Leashes, not leeway
Donald Trump traveled a long way to be preached to when he attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome and got seated on Saturday in the front row (Reuters):
In front of hundreds of world leaders attending the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re called for care for migrants, an end to wars, and action on global climate change – Francis’ favourite political themes.
Re repeated one of the pope’s strongest criticisms of U.S. President Donald Trump, with Trump himself present in the crowd, by calling to “build bridges, not walls”.
Vanity Fair adds:
“Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice, imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions,” Cardinal Re said as he delivered the homily. “‘Build bridges, not walls,’ was an exhortation he repeated many times.”
Aboard Air Force One on his way to Italy on Friday, Trump told reporters that he was attending the funeral “out of respect” for Francis, adding, “I won the Catholic vote.” And since arriving in Italy, Trump has been documenting his trip on Truth Social, sharing videos of him walking toward his seat at the funeral and standing in front of the late pope’s simple cypress coffin.
“Out of respect” is a sick joke. “I won the Catholic vote” is how Mr. Transactional really thinks. I’m surprised that the would-be-dictator didn’t sneer, “And how many divisions does the Pope have?”
The funeral included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “and some 50 other world leaders.” Something positive may have come out if it after Trump had a sidebar meeting with Zelensky (New York Times):
President Trump’s standing among Ukrainians is practically on life support. But many cheered one statement he made on Saturday after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, questioning why President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would continue to pummel Ukraine as the United States is trying to broker peace talks.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social after meeting with Mr. Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, adding that Mr. Putin may need to be “dealt with differently” — with more sanctions.
That could signal a changeup from the peace plan Trump 2.0 has promoted that included Ukraine ceding territory (and more) to Vladimir Putin.
And then, the hope grew slightly on Saturday when Mr. Zelensky managed to wrangle about 15 minutes with Mr. Trump in Rome. Photos released by the Ukrainian government showed the two men sitting in chairs and leaning toward each other, talking like equals — a vastly different scene than a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office in late February that ended with Mr. Zelensky’s abrupt departure from the White House and the temporary freezing of all U.S. aid.
The photos from Rome “were extraordinary,” said Volodymyr Dubovyk, the director of the Center for International Studies at Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University. He added that it was good for Mr. Zelensky to have some time alone with Mr. Trump.
But don’t get your hopes up. One quick tug on the leash from Putin will bring Trump back into line. If it doesn’t break what little spine Trump’s got.
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