Donald Trump became the second US president to visit Pope Francis following Barack Obama's Vatican visit in 2014. However, the recent meeting with the highest priest was completely the opposite of Obama's encounter with the Bishop of Rome.
Trump meets glum-looking Pope
Pope Francis welcomed the POTUS at the Vatican for their first ever meeting since Trump took the White House position in January. But instead of showing his cheerful disposition, the 80-year-old priest displayed a plain face in front of Donald and the first family.
In fact, several photos from the meeting have become the subjects of online memes and craze.
One of the viral photos featured a glum-looking Pope Francis alongside a smiling Donald accompanied by Ivanka and Melania who seemingly looked like they were attending a funeral with their all-black appearances.
The president's relationship with the pope has always been cold even before Donald won the presidential elections. The highest priest even questioned the US president's Christianity. But despite their differences, the two had a private talk during the meeting which lasted for about 29 minutes, obviously shorter than Obama's hour-long chat with the Bishop of Rome.
Pope Francis even gave Donald a medallion engraved with an olive tree that symbolizes peace. After handing out the holy gift, the highest priest said he is hopeful that the president will strive to pursue peace.
Donald said that he is now more determined to bring peace to all after his Vatican visit.
Where's the White House press secretary?
Sean Spicer's absence during the Vatican visit caught the attention of the media. According to the BBC, it was later revealed that the White House press secretary was only informed that he would not be joining the Trump family just moments before the scheduled meeting.
An admin official said Spicer had been looking forward to personally meet the Pope and expected that he would the be part of group who would be accompanying the president to the Vatican. The insider added that the White House press secretary was expecting to see his name on the list.
But to everyone's surprise, Spicer, who is a Catholic, was left out for some unknown reason.
The White House spokesoman refused to give his comment on the issue. A source from the office, however, shared that the Vatican visit was all what Spicer wanted.
Aside from him, the following people from Trump administration were also absent during Donald's meeting with Pope Francis: Kellyanne Conway (senior counselor), Reince Priebus (chief-of-staff), and Steve Bannon (chief strategist).
