Kari Lake, senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, told Newsmax on Friday that President Donald Trump's trip to Rome with wife Melania for the funeral of Pope Francis is more than a political maneuver to discuss a wide range of topics with world leaders.
About 250,000 people paid their respects to Francis, who died Monday at age 88, in the three days his coffin lay in St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said Friday, as public viewing ended, and world leaders began gathering for his funeral Saturday.
"I really think the president is going to pay his respects to Pope Francis," Lake told "Finnerty," adding that the Pope "lived a long life, and a lot of Catholics and many [other] people around the globe are mourning. And the president and first lady are going obviously for that purpose.
"And because there will be so many world leaders there, naturally every single one of them is going to want to spend some time if they can carve it out with President Trump.
"There's a lot happening in the world, especially with the trade deals, that the president is going to be negotiating with. The very focus of putting America first, rebuilding our economy, rebuilding our manufacturing, and starting to make things once again in America and provide hardworking men and women jobs.
"So, it's natural that while he's there, where all these world leaders will be as well, paying their respects to Pope Francis that he would do this. I don't think this is a political move on President Trump's part. I think he's really going over there to pay his respects."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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