President Donald Trump and Melania landed in Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis after the sealing of his coffin

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump landed Friday at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, who died Monday at the age of 88.

The visit, which marks Trump's first international trip since the start of his second term, comes at a time of great solemnity for theCatholic Church and the world, with more than 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs confirmed to attend the funeral tomorrow in St. Peter's Square.

Air Force One, with the presidential couple on board, touched down on Italian soil at around 10:50  PM local time.

From the airport, Trump and Melania headed to Villa Taverna, the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Rome, where they will spend the night before ceremonies scheduled for Saturday.

The White House said Trump's schedule in Rome will be focused exclusively on the funeral events, lasting just over half a day in the city.

The Vatican, meanwhile, completed on Friday the rite of closing the coffin of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica, a protocol step prior to the funeral. The ceremony, presided over by Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell, began at 8:00 PM in private, after the closure of the burning chapel that allowed some 250,000 faithful to bid farewell to the pontiff for three days.

During the rite, the rogito, a document summarizing the life and work of Francis, was read and placed in the coffin along with coins minted during his papacy and other symbolic objects. The coffin, made of wood with zinc interior, was sealed and will remain in the basilica until the funeral Mass on Saturday morning.

The funeral, which will follow the prescriptions of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica. Afterwards, the coffin will be transferred in a funeral procession to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where Francis will be buried, fulfilling his wish to rest in a simple place outside the traditional Vatican crypts.

Trump's presence at the funeral, accompanied by Melania, marks a significant event, being the first time since 2005 that a sitting U.S. president has attended a papal funeral, when George W. Bush participated in the obsequies of John Paul II.

Despite a strained relationship with Francis, marked by differences over issues such as migration, Trump expressed his respect for the pontiff on social media, writing, “Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!”

In addition, the Republican ordered that the flag of all U.S. federal agencies fly at half-staff until the day of the funeral.

The event will bring together world leaders such as the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky; the president of Argentina, Javier Milei; the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; and the king and queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, among others.

Italian authorities and the Vatican have beefed up security in Rome in anticipation of the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people for the funeral, which coincides with a national holiday in Italy.