Shortly after the death of Pope Francis was announced on Monday, the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump orderedU.S. flags to be flown at half-staff and spoke only with praise about the world Catholic leader.
The compliments were in stark contrast to the criticisms the two leaders exchanged during nearly a decade of bickering, mostly due to the Pope’s appeal for compassion toward migrants, whom Trump repeatedly sought to deport.
The U.S. president will head to Rome on Friday to attend Pope Francis’ funeral the next day. Accompanied by First Lady Melania and a U.S. delegation, it will be Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term.
This week, Trump avoided speaking about any disagreements with the 88-year-old Pope.
“He was a good man, he worked hard, he loved the world,” said Trump.
When a reporter told Trump that the Pope preached tolerance toward migrants, the president responded: “Yes, he did that.”
The reporter then asked if he agreed with that, and Trump answered affirmatively.
Trump tested the limits of U.S. law in order to increase arrests and deportations as part of broad immigration crackdowns since taking office in January. On Thursday, he celebrated his moves with a social media post written in all caps. “The southern border is now the strongest and safest in U.S. history, and it will remain that way,” the U.S. president posted.
The Pope first expressed his dissatisfaction with Trump’s approach in 2016, after Trump, then still in the election campaign, announced plans to build a wall along the southern U.S. border with Mexico to prevent migrant entry.
“A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not a Christian,” Francis said at the time.
Trump responded to him then. “It is disgraceful for a religious leader to question someone’s faith,” said Trump.
The Pope and the President met after Trump became president in 2017, and his first foreign trip included a visit to the Vatican. A photo from that meeting showed the president and members of his family standing next to the Pope with a grim expression on his face.
In the November elections, Trump won the Catholic vote with a result of 63 percent to 35 percent, which is an increase of seven percentage points compared to the 2020 results, according to an exit poll conducted by Edison Research.
“As you know, they were very strongly with me during the election, and I am honored to have the support of Catholics, and I feel very sorry for them because they love the Pope,” Trump said on Monday.
After Trump took office for the second time and made migrant deportations a main priority, Francis returned to the topic of migration in a letter to U.S. bishops on February 10th. “I am closely following the major crisis taking place in the U.S. with the launch of mass deportation programs,” Francis wrote.
“A properly formed conscience cannot fail to express disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality,” he added.
The two men also clashed in style. Francis preferred a simple way of life in a Vatican guesthouse, while Trump, the richest U.S.president, enjoys luxury.
Piotr Kosicki, a history professor at the University of Maryland, who has written extensively about the Catholic Church, said the presence of the U.S. president at the funeral is “definitely a sign of respect,” despite the antagonistic relationship between Trump and Francis.
“It’s clearly a historic moment that he can participate in,” said Kosicki.
