At Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden were separated by just five rows, well within each other’s line of sight. Both leaders were accompanied by their wives, Melania Trump and Jill Biden.
Despite being seated relatively close during the nearly three-hour Catholic Mass, neither of them made any attempt to interact or acknowledge each other.
Donald Trump along with the First Lady, Melania Trump sat on the first row and the Bidens sat just few rows behind them, in sunglasses.
Donald Trump during his way to Rome, said a meeting with his predecessor in the Oval Office was ‘not high on my list.’
And he shrugged off his former rival attending Pope Francis’ funeral.
The US President also said that he wasn’t aware that Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden would also be at the basilica for the service.
‘Oh he is? I didn’t know,’ he told reporters on Air Force One.
He was also asked if he is interested to meet the former President of the country, to which he replied, ‘It’s not high on my list. It’s really not.’
It is known to everyone that these men had a bitter rivalry in the 2020 election, which Joe Biden eventually won. Then the contest continued again on 2024 where he eventually dropped out of the race and Donald Trump emerged as the President of the United States for the second time.
Our president represented our nation in the solemn funeral mass of Pope Francis at St Peter’s Basilica. It was a beautiful ceremony and the Italians flooded the streets. Oh and dopey Joe Biden sat four rows behind Trump and shouldn’t have even been there to begin with but okay. pic.twitter.com/RuuPPOiQzB
— Rob (@SaltLife_89) April 26, 2025
Earlier, Biden has called Trump a threat to the US’s democracy. He has also questioned Trump’s mental capabilities, and marked him as the reason behind increasing inflation and shaky stock market. No one is unware of the consistent disputes between both of them. Ever since Trump began his second term, he has repeatedly bashed Biden on several occasions.
The President casually dressed for Friday for the eight-hour flight with his tie off and shirt unbuttoned, and he told the reporters that he was attending service partially because he won Catholic voters in the 2024 election.
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Trump is said to have won the Catholics by more than 120,000 votes when he locked horns against the former Vice President Kamala Harris. It was primarily Trump’s anti-abortion policies along with the appointment of the conservative judges onto the Supreme court who eventually overturned Roe vs. Wade – that put the voting bloc in his corner.
In the 2020 election, Trump and Biden nearly split the Catholic vote evenly. Biden, notably, became the second Catholic U.S. president after John F. Kennedy.
Donald Trump himself identifies himself as a ‘non-denominational Christian.’ And on the other hand, First lady Melania Trump is Catholic.
