President Trump indicated Monday – following news of Pope Francis’s death – that he and first lady Melania Trump will be attending the Pope’s funeral at the Vatican, despite the president’s somewhat contentious history with the late leader of the Catholic Church.

Traditionally, papal funerals take place four to six days following their death, so Francis’s funeral is expected to take place before the end of the month. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told reporters that the General Congregation of Cardinals will occur Tuesday morning, during which an exact date for the funeral should be decided.

«Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome,» Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday afternoon. «We look forward to being there!»

POPE FRANCIS’ FUNERAL WILL BE SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF PAST PAPAL FUNERALS, PER HIS CHANGE OF PAPAL FUNERAL RITES

Pope Francis meets President  Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican.   (Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

Trump’s announcement that he would be traveling to Rome for the ceremony followed a separate announcement he made earlier in the day indicating that he had ordered all American flags on government grounds, including military installments and embassies abroad, to fly at half-staff until sunset Monday.

Trump’s relationship with Pope Francis over the years was one marked by ideological differences and – at times – tension.

Amid Trump’s first run for office, Pope Francis criticized one of Trump’s signature campaign promises of building a wall along the southern border, calling the move «not Christian» in 2016.

POPE FRANCIS AND US PRESIDENTS: A LOOK BACK AT HIS LEGACY WITH THE NATION’S LEADERS 

«A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,» Francis told reporters during a mid-flight interview on his way to Mexico in 2016, according to a translation from the Associated Press.

Pope Francis criticized President Trump’s mass deportation plan on Sunday during an interview calling it a «disgrace.» (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images/ Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Trump, meanwhile, shot back at the pontiff’s remarks, arguing it was «disgraceful» for the Pope, or any religious leader for that matter, to question another person’s faith. 

«If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened,» Trump said in a statement released by his team following the Pope’s criticism. «ISIS would have been eradicated unlike what is happening now with our all talk, no action politicians.»

TRUMP, WORLD LEADERS REACT TO DEATH OF POPE FRANCIS

During Francis’s life he also took aim at increasing nationalistic sentiments around the world, criticism that implicitly targeted Trump’s «America First» agenda. 

Francis was also a believer in climate change posing a major problem for society, something Trump also differed with him on. In both Trump’s first and second terms, he has pulled the U.S. out of the international Paris Climate Accords, which is an international initiative aimed at mitigating global warming. 

Pope Francis meets the President of United States of America Donald Trump in the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace with his wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. Vatican City, May 24, 2017. (Vatican/Pool/Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori via Getty Images)

Trump, who considers himself a Christian but is not a Catholic, only met with Francis once during his first term. By contrast, Joe Biden, who is a confirmed Catholic, met with Francis in-person on multiple occasions throughout his single-term presidency. 

Trump’s Vice President J.D. Vance, a Catholic himself, was notably one of the Pope’s last visitors, seeing him on Easter Sunday – one day before Francis passed.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.  

La muerte del papa Francisco permanece como tema principal en los medios más importantes del mundo. A las 7:35 horas (5:35 GMT) el cardenal Kevin Joseph Farrel anunció la noticia y doce horas después, la cobertura en los principales portales del planeta continúa abocada a informar cómo será las próximas jornadas, su legado, y las horas finales del pontífice argentino en Roma.

En Italia, Corriere Della Sera reflejó la información difundida por el Vaticano a cerca de las causas del deceso de Francisco, a raíz de un derrame cerebral que le provocó un infarto una hora después del episodio. También da cuenta del testamento que indicó antes de morir el papa.

La presencia de Trump en el funeral, a realizarse el próximo sábado y el foco en el cónclave para elegir al sucesor del papa, rodean la apertura del portal.

La Repubblica, en tanto, destaca una entrevista a la hermana de Jorge Bergoglio, junto a la historia del sacerdote argentino que llegó a convertirse en Obispo de Roma. También abunda en las características del cónclave que definirá a su sucesro.

El Mundo, de España, informa sobre las reacciones en Buenos Aires en una crónica y da cuenta de los últimos viajes de Francisco. La noticia del ictus (derrame) y sus últimas horas también forma parte de su cobertura. El País, en tanto, recoge las reacciones en la política española, alrededor de la crónica central del fallecimiento.

El diario británico The Guardian retoma las causas de la muerte en la apertura de su portada principal y realiza un anticipo de los posibles sucesores de Francisco como líder de la iglesia católica. Da cuenta además de cómo es la instancia secreta en la que se dará esta definición. Dailymail, por su parte, destaca que en su testamente, Francisco dejó establecido que “un benefactor anónimo” será el encargado de costear su último adiós.

The New York Times informa acerca de los homenajes que tendrán lugar en honor al argentino, y ofrece opiniones acerca del legado del “papa latinoamericano”. También publica el contraste con el pensamiento del presidente de los Estados Unidos Donald Trump, a partir de episodios que cobran valor histórico tras la muerte de Francisco

The Washington Post, en tanto, retrata cómo fue el último día del papa haciendo un repaso por las actividades que cumplió el sumo pontífice en el fin de semana en el que se celebraban las pascuas. También plantea un análisis que explica porque las chances de que sea sucedido por un sacerdote estadounidense son nulas.

El diario francés Le Monde, en tanto, refleja el paso y las condolencias de miles de fieles en la plaza del Vaticano. Ofrece un recuento con 10 frases memorables del papa argentino y ubica entre los contenidos destacados el pensamiento de Francisco sobre el ambiente y “el cuidado de la casa propia”.

“Con profundo dolor tengo que anunciar que el papa Francisco ha muerto a las 7:35 horas de hoy, el obispo de Roma ha vuelto a la casa del padre, su vida entera ha estado dedicada servicio del Señor y de su Iglesia y nos ha enseñado el valor del evangelio con fidelidad, valor y amor universal y en manera particular a favor de los más pobres y marginados”, indicó Farrel en el comienzo de la jornada dando cuenta de la noticia.

Y continúo: “Con inmensa gratitud por su ejemplo como discípulo del Señor Jesús recomendamos el alma del papa Francisco al infinito amor misericordioso de Dios”.

A partir de allí, el tema dominó los encabezados de los medios en en todo el mundo.

Francisco, que había estado ausente en todos los ritos de la Semana Santa al seguir convaleciente tras su hospitalización, había aparecido este domingo en el balcón de la logia central de la fachada de la basílica de San Pedro para la bendición Urbi et Orbi.

Después recorrió la plaza en papamóvil a pesar de sus condiciones de salud, en lo que ahora puede considerarse su último adiós a los fieles.

Vatican officials have shared the will left behind by Pope Francis, which details his burial request, hours after the pontiff passed away from a cerebral stroke that led to heart failure.

«Feeling that the sunset of my earthly life is approaching and with lively hope in the Eternal Life, I wish to express my testamentary will only with regard to the place of my Burial,» the document begins.

Written in June 2022, the will details the pope’s burial preferences, which differ from pontiffs from the past few centuries.

«I have always entrusted my life and the priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest waiting for the day of the resurrection in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore,» the document continues.

FAITH LEADERS REFLECT ON POPE FRANCIS’ DEATH, PAPACY AND LASTING LEGACY: ‘MADE HIS MARK’

Francis said that he wanted his «last earthly journey to end in this ancient sanctuary.»

The will also asks for Francis to be buried in the earth, «without particular decorum and with the only inscription: Franciscus.»

«I ask that my tomb be prepared in the hole of the aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica as Indicated in the attached annex,» it reads. 

He also stated that burial expenses should be covered with the sum of the benefactor whom Francis arranged with.

POPE FRANCIS’ DEATH AFTER RESPIRATORY ILLNESS: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BILATERAL PNEUMONIA

Pope Francis greets cardinals as he unexpectedly appears during the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican, April 13, 2025. (Yara Nardi/Reuters)

«I have arranged, to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and of which I have provided to give Appropriate instructions to Mons. Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Chapter Liberian,» his will reads. 

«May the Lord give the well-deserved reward to those who have loved me and will continue to pray For me. The suffering that was made in the last part of my life I offered to the Lord For peace in the world and brotherhood among peoples,» it ended. 

Francis, 88, died Monday morning at the Vatican. Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican’s health department, said that the stroke put him into a coma and led to irreversible heart failure, according to an afternoon update from Vatican officials.

POPE FRANCIS REVEALED BURIAL WISHES JUST DAYS AFTER BECOMING POPE IN 2013

Pope Francis waves during an audience with Hungarian pilgrims in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on April 25, 2024. (Fillipo Monteforte/AFP via Getty)

«I certify that His Holiness Francesco (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) on December 17, 1936, Resident in Vatican City, Vatican Citizen, died at 7.35 am on April 21, 2025, in his apartment at the Domus Santa Marta (Vatican City) of: Brain stroke, coma, and irreversible cardiocollaspe,» the report read.

Arcangeli added that Francis also suffered from episodes of «respiratory insufficiency,» as well as his recent bilateral pneumonia. Officials said the pope also suffered from type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Francis, who had battled pneumonia for weeks before being released from the hospital, faced health complications for many years and had half of one of his lungs removed when he was young. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

He was elected to the papacy on March 13, 2013, and was the first Jesuit to become pope.

The pope’s last public appearance was on Easter Sunday at St. Peter’s Square.

Fox News’ Thomas Ferraro, Alec Schemmel, and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com