Trump announces he will attend Pope Francis' funeral

President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will travel to Rome, Italy, along with first lady Melania Trump, to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, who died this April 21 at the age of 88 following a stroke.

"Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome. We look forward to being there!" wrote Trump on the social network Truth.

If it materializes, it would be the U.S. president's first trip abroad in his second term.

Throughout his political career, the US president had a complex relationship with Pope Francis, who in 2016 came to question the immigration policies proposed by Trump himself during his election campaign.

However, in May 2017, Pope Francis received Trump at the Vatican in what was a "cordial" meeting, as stated by the US president himself.

"He is something. We had a fantastic meeting," Trump said at the time.

On the death of the pontiff, President Trump ordered American flags to fly at half-staff “as a mark of respect for the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis.”

Hours before his death, Pope Francis briefly received U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Vatican on Easter Sunday.

Vance, who was one of the first to convey a message of condolences among U.S. officials following the Catholic leader's death, was also the last public figure to meet with Pope Francis.

"I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul," Vance wrote in 'X.'