Donald Trump met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Tuesday, as part of the third leg of the US President’s overseas trip.
Trump arrived in Rome with an entourage that included his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, heading straight to the Vatican for a private audience with head of the Catholic church Pope Francis.
The two men, who have frequently clashed on issues such as the environment and the treatment of refugees and immigrants, exchanged gifts including a case of books by Martin Luther King and a medal by a Roman artist inscribed with an olive branch.
The Pope also presented Trump with a book on the “care of our common home, the environment”, to which Trump responded that he “would be reading it”.
Amidst high levels of security in the Italian capital, President Trump is set to meet the Italian President and Prime Minister before flying to Brussels for a Nato summit.
The visit to the Vatican is the third stop of Trump’s tour of places representing three major religions. He arrived in Italy from Israel and the West Bank, where he met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to advocate peace in the Middle East.