Trump Meets Pope, Calls It An ‘Honour’ 

Rome: US President Donald Trump met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday during the first face-to-face meeting of the two leaders, who symbolise starkly different views of the world.

Trump arrived for a short private audience at the Apostolic Palace along with his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The US President was greeted warmly by Pope Francis before they sat down for the private meeting at which only a translator was present. Trump could be heard saying it was an honour to be there during the meeting. At one point, the Pope jokingly asked Melania, "what she fed her husband." The seemingly genial meeting offered no hint of the rocky start to the pair's relationship last year, when the Argentinian pontiff questioned then-candidate Trump's Christian credentials.

US Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and National Security Adviser HR McMaster were among Trump's delegation to the Vatican. After Trump's private meeting with the Pope, Melania and others were invited to join the pair in the papal library.

For Trump, who landed in Rome after stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel, the audience in the Vatican caps a tour of the ancestral homes of three of the world's great monotheistic religions. Trump and the Pope have diametrically opposite views on issues as varied as immigration, climate change and arms sales. Trump will later meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. He will then fly to Brussels for a NATO summit and will wrap up his tour on Friday after the G7 summit on the Italian island of Sicily.

-IANS