The funeral of Pope Francisco In Plaza de San Pedro del Vaticano, president of the United States, Donald Trump. The American president left an image for history with a snapshot of his short meeting with the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenskiinside the Basilica of San Pedro, but also monopolized all eyes When you are in the front row In the Vatican Esplanade, during the pontiff’s funeral, a position that Initially did not correspondBut that the Vatican He granted it due to a last minute change.
According to the rigorous Vatican protocol, the first rows of Francisco’s funeral were Reserved for the heads of statesitting in French alphabetical order, but with priority for Italian delegations, the most massive with the presence of the president, Sergio Mattarella and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni; and Argentina, the birthplace of the Pontiff, led by Javier Milei.
Subsequently, even in the front row, they had to position Royal Catholic housesLike the Spanish one, and then the non -Catholic kings like those of Sweden or Prince Guillermo of England. This relegated Donald Trump to be at least in the second row of places.
However, none of this happened: the President of the United States and the First Lady, Melania Trump, Have advanced positions and finally assisted to the funeral of Pope Francis from the front row.
To the right of Trump, on the other side of the room, were the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb and the French president, Emmanuel MacronTo which Trump greeted at the beginning of the funeral and during the period of peace to Mass. To the left of the American were the president of Estonia, Alar Karis and in the adjacent place, the King Felipe VI and Letiziawho also tightened his hands with Trump.
The American president was also relatively close to Ukraine, Volodimir ZelenskiEven in the front row and despite the fact that Ukraine is far from the United States in the French alphabet.
This sudden change in the protocol has an explanation, and it is nothing more than Safety. Both leaders held a meeting in the Basilica of San Pedro a few minutes before the start of the funeral, so when they left they had the right time to host in their respective seats of the front row before the start of the mass.
In the same way, according to the headquarters of the national police of Rome, the delegations of the United States and Ukraine were among the countries that required greater security, therefore It was agreed that they would abandon first The square of San Pedro once the funeral is finished.
Therefore the presence of Trump in the front row, which allowed him Fifty minutes after the end of the ceremonyto return to your country aboard the Air Force One.
