Rome — U.S. President Donald Trump offered a gesture of peace to French President Emmanuel Macron, the King and Queen of Spain, and other world leaders during Pope Francis’ funeral mass at St. Peter’s Square today, in a moment of formal diplomatic courtesy.
The exchange occurred during the rite of peace, a central part of the Catholic liturgy in which participants symbolically extend reconciliation and unity to one another.
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Trump greeted Macron, the King and Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, and the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, among other heads of state and government present at Pope Francis’ funeral.
In the case of the greeting between Trump and Macron, the image was particularly striking due to the history of disagreements between the two leaders.
During his term, Trump repeatedly criticized Macron and his wife, Brigitte, in ways that strained bilateral relations between Washington and Paris.
Minutes before the funeral began, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a brief meeting that the White House described as “very productive.”
Just before the funeral began, Trump also briefly shook hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen amid their tariff standoff.
The funeral brought together a broad international representation, with some 60 heads of state and government, monarchs, and delegations from numerous countries present to bid farewell to the first Latin American pontiff in history.
Strong presence of Latin American leaders at the funeral
Five Latin American presidents—Argentine Javier Milei, Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Ecuadorian Daniel Noboa, Dominican Luis Abinader, and Honduran Xiomara Castro—arrived in St. Peter’s Square this Saturday to attend Pope Francis’ funeral, where there was a strong presence of delegations.
Milei, a compatriot of Pope Francis, in the front row, alongside the Italian delegation led by Sergio Mattarella and Giorgia Meloni, as required by the strict protocol that the funeral will follow.
Meanwhile, Lula, who arrived with his wife Janja, entered Vatican Square shortly after Milei did, just minutes before the start of the solemn funeral and with bells ringing in the background.
“We said goodbye to Pope Francis in the place where we met him. The love was felt on every face: children, young people, women, men, all united by the gratitude and hope he sowed,” Xiomara Castro said in a message on her X account.
“It was a farewell filled with prayers, kisses to heaven, parents speaking to their children about what he taught us: to love the poor, the forgotten, those most in need,” continued the Honduran leader, who shared a video of the moment of honoring the coffin.
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