A 28 minute-talk at the audience with US President. The initial tension dissolves in a more relaxed atmosphere towards the end. Bergoglio asks the White House tenant for a commitment to peace
At 8:17, Donald Trump entered the world’s smallest state. He crossed the Perugino gate and from there the delegation reached the courtyard of San Damaso to which they arrived three minutes later. Above the arch of the entrance to the Apostolic Palace stands the flag of the United States, as for any state visit. The First Lady is wearing a black dress with a veil, as the traditional protocol, which is rarely followed, wants for non-Catholics wives. The Prefect of the Pontifical House, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, greeted them in English “You are welcome guests”. Trump then shakes hands with His Holiness’ Gentlemen, lined up on the red carpet. The president and his followers took the elevator, as the delegation slowly broke apart into the different halls of the Apostolic Palace. Trump often raised his gaze upwards to frescoed ceilings.
Outside the private studio, the first encounter between Francis and Trump took place. The Pope left the Library to welcome the guest and shake his hand. Tension between both of them was evident. Inside the studio, the two leaders stood next to each other for the rite photos. Trump smiled, Bergoglio a little less.
“It is the protocol,” said Francis to his guest, almost as to apologize to the president, for whom rite pictures are certainly not new.
The Pope and Trump sat opposite each other, separated by the large dark wood desk. At 8.33 the interview started. “You are welcome” the Pope said. “I speak Spanish,” Bergoglio warned at the beginning of the conversation, while beside him sat the interpreter, Monsignor Mark Miles. Trump replied, “Thank you very much. This is such a great honor”. The face to face behind closed doors ended one minute after nine and lasted 28 minutes. The audience, including the exchange of gifts and the greeting of the delegation, lasted a total of 40 minutes.
First Lady, Melania, the first to be introduced to the Pope, had him bless an object she was holding in her hands. During the exchange of gifts, Francis presented Trump with an artistic bronze bas-relief representing an olive tree, and went on to explain its meaning: there is a fracture indicating “the division of war,” Bergoglio said, and the image represents “My desire for peace”. He then asked the president to contribute to a world in peace. The Pope then gave Trump a message of the World Peace Day 2017, together with the three main documents of his pontificate bound in red leather, the exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”, the encyclical “Laudato Si’” “devoted to safeguarding of creation, and the exhortation on marriage and family “Amoris laetitia”. The slightly tense climate that marked the beginning of the visit melted, as it often happens during the final moments usually characterized by smiles and jokes.
Trump did not arrive in the Vatican on the armored limousine nicknamed “The Beast”, a military vehicle with a 13 cm-thick armor made of tempered steel, aluminum, titanium and bulletproof pottery, but with a more maneuverable armored Suv.
At the beginning of May, when the White House indicated the potential dates for the Audience, the Holy See gave two possible times: at 8.30 in the morning, as it happened, or early in the afternoon, at 3 pm. This because on Wednesday morning the Pope is engaged in the general audience with the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. The great gathering of the faithful coming from Conciliazione street and surrounding areas, added to the presence of more than two hundred Italian bishops present in the Paul VI hall for their general assembly, have forced the Holy See and the American administration to study a path that would not cause interference, given the impossibility of making the traditional state visit tour through the Conciliazione with entry from the Arch of the Bells.
The alleged option, which was initially considered, to arrive by helicopter (the president’s security would have foreseen the arrival of at least three aircraft), an entrance from the Porta del Perugino was chosen found on the side of the Vatican, which leads to Via Gregorio VII, and from there the Trump delegation unravels undisturbed within the smallest state of the world to finally reach the San Damaso courtyard where leaders on official visit are welcomed by a baton of Swiss Guards and Prefect of the Pontifical House.
In addition to First Lady Melania, there were also Trumps’ daughter, Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Assistant H.R. McMaster, Strategic Communications Leader Hope Hicks, Social Media Director Daniel Scavino, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, the ad interim US Ambassador to the Holy See Louis Bono, Deputy Assistant Of National Security Chairman Dina Powell, the Operations Director of the Oval Hall Keith Schiller, and finally the Interpreter Alessandra Bonatti. All the women in the room were wearing the veil.
After the meeting with the Pope, the US delegation met with Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and the Vatican’s “Foreign Minister”, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.
