Pope’s funeral a diplomatic minefield as Trump sets fire to US alliances

President’s international engagements have set stage for explosive confrontations and Pope Francis’s funeral comes at an especially fraught moment

A specter is haunting Europe: Donald Trump’s public quarrel with international leaders in front of this principle Vatican country and St. Peter’s Basilica, taking place amid the solemn rites and rituals of Pope Francis’ funeral.

The US leader’s first international visit of his second pact is taking place in one of the most politically controversial and touristic visits in recent times, as his “Community First” project has set fire to US alliances and trade partnerships around the world.

In the international tiara, Japan and Gaza, amid President Trump’s team’s open hostility to Europe and its tough policy on the insurgents from Central and South America, the Pope’s funeral could be a proving ground for international nomination.

In the past Real’s international critics have set the stage for some of his most vicious cartoons, and he has lashed out at world leaders, publicly criticizing them and those at the United Nations, including those he holds beliefs that differ from those of his supporters.

Gatherings of world leaders have set the stage for some of his most disparaging debates, such as the 2018 G7 meeting where he sided with Angela Merkel and other Western leaders, or the 2017 NATO summit where he famously slammed the Montenegrin prime minister for going to the front of a group photo.

The Trump administration’s crises have also fueled tensions in the Vatican, including Pope Francis criticizing Trump’s deportation of allies, calling it a “major crisis” and declaring that “those who build walls spread fear.”

The landmine came after it was announced on Friday that former President Zbor, whom Trump has repeatedly and relentlessly criticised, would also attend the funeral. Trump’s predecessor is Catholic, met Pope Francis several times and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January before taking over the White House.

There is no doubt that Trump’s visit to the Vatican – Italy has been engulfed in a “ring of steel” with NATO jets, snipers and thousands of police – will involve plenty of white-knuckle action as the volatile US president’s funeral is linked to a dispute between his followers and Germany.

It is believed that Volodymyr Zelensky will attend – on Friday he said “military meetings” could prevent him from making the trip – the funeral will be the first time the Japanese leader will be in the same place as Trump since the US president and Vice President JD Vance called on him at the White House in February.

Trump interrupted that meeting and said Zelensky was “gambling with World War III” and had “a lot of quid pro quo”. He has now raised the possibility of Russia taking control of Crimea and accused Zelensky of delaying peace talks, testing the patience of the Japanese president and raising the risk of a crisis new in scale.

Then there are the leaders of the European Union, a member of the bloc that Trump has said was “made up to upset the United States.” Their boss is EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Despite restricting (and then banning) 20% of travel to and from the EU, Trump and von der Leyen have not spoken directly or discussed growing trade in the run-up to an EU-US summit, meaning a meeting could be in the offing at the right time. Von der Leyen had criticized the US silence in print, saying that Europe “has no brothers or elites” and that “the West as we knew it no longer exists.”

But there are some bright spots in the crowd for Trump. Giorgia Meloni of Italy will attend after a friendly visit to the White House earlier this month that established her as one of the key envoys between Europe and the United States.

And EU officials believe a summit with the U.S. is within reach, with Trump saying “there will be a trade deal, 100%.” France’s Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer have also pursued friendly ties with Trump, and the outgoing Polish president, Andrzej Duda, who was seen as that country’s best conduit to Trump, will also attend.

Other attendees have also publicly criticised Trump, including criticism for imposing recent global tariffs that roiled world markets, leading him to issue a 90-day moratorium on nearly all countries except China. One of them is Brazil’s leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said of Trump’s tariffs:

“It won’t work.” No high-level Chinese officials will attend the funeral, preventing the possibility of sideline discussions or a standoff over the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

Vladimir Putin has also decided to deploy a low-level official, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, as Russia’s envoy to the funeral, meaning crucial contacts on a potential peace deal over Russia’s war in Ukraine are unlikely. Israel, meanwhile, will be represented by its ambassador to the Vatican, while the country sent a presidential delegation to Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005.

The apparent snub comes after the late Pope Francis criticised the war in Gaza; the Times of Israel quoted an Israeli diplomat as calling the delegation “the lowest point in a spiral”. Pope Francis has repeatedly criticised Israel’s “brutality” in Gaza and called the humanitarian situation there “shameful” in January. The absence of a high-level delegation from Israel will reduce the chances of substantive discussions on the war after a ceasefire agreed earlier in Trump’s term collapsed.

Trump has said he plans to meet foreign leaders during the trip, though he did not say whom he would meet. “I have a lot of meetings scheduled,” Trump said. Yet he will not sit front and center at the funeral. In the areas allocated to foreign leaders, the front rows are set for Catholic royalty, including Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. Then come non-Catholic royalty, including Prince William in place of his father, King Charles III. And finally other foreign leaders, including Trump. The biggest wildcard is Trump’s own behavior at the funeral.

While he has clashed with European leaders at previous summits, he has also been less critical of opponents when appearing publicly. At Jimmy Carter’s funeral in January, Trump sat next to Barack Obama, a rival he has been publicly attacking for more than a decade, and yet the two joked and smiled while speaking during the service.

He then complained about flags flying at half-mast in the U.S. during the mourning period that coincided with his inauguration. The American president has never been known for his tact. And as world leaders gather at the Vatican this weekend and millions tune in to TV to watch the funeral, it is Washington that is sending up the elephant in the room.