Maybe he doesn't want to stop the war at all
At the funeral of Pope Francis, where more than 150 nations gathered to mark the passing of a pontiff who had long challenged the powerful, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy found a quiet corner of St. Peter's Basilica to speak — their first real conversation since a fractious February meeting. What emerged was not a peace announcement but a doubt: Trump's public suggestion that Vladimir Putin may not wish for the war to end at all. The sacred setting, freighted with the late pope's legacy of bridges over walls, framed a moment in which American foreign policy and domestic political vulnerability converged in ways that will be difficult to separate going forward.
- Trump's open questioning of Putin's sincerity — writing that the Russian leader may be 'tapping him along' — signals a potential but unconfirmed shift in Washington's approach to the Ukraine conflict.
- The Vatican encounter offered neutral diplomatic ground, yet the ceremony itself delivered an implicit rebuke: the homily's call to 'build bridges, not walls' landed as a direct echo of the pope's long-standing criticism of Trump's immigration agenda.
- Zelenskyy was met with public cheers among the gathered mourners, while Trump navigated a setting shaped by a pontiff who had been among his most prominent moral critics.
- Returning home, Trump faced polling data showing his approval ratings at historic lows for a president at the hundred-day mark, a domestic erosion that threatens to constrain whatever foreign policy leverage he is attempting to assert.
Donald Trump traveled to the Vatican on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, joining leaders from across the world in mourning a pontiff who had frequently challenged his administration. The more consequential moment, however, came before the ceremony — a private meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy inside St. Peter's Basilica, their first substantive exchange since a tense Oval Office encounter in February.
What the two men discussed remained private, but Trump's own words soon filled the silence. He posted publicly that recent Russian missile strikes on civilian areas had made him doubt Putin's intentions, writing that the Russian leader appeared to be stringing him along and would need to be handled differently. It was not a declaration of progress — it was the announcement of a suspicion.
The funeral itself offered its own commentary. Zelenskyy was greeted with cheers from onlookers. The homily, delivered by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, invoked the late pope's call to build bridges rather than walls — an unmistakable reference to Trump's immigration policies and the deportation orders that had defined his early weeks in office.
The Vatican had served as useful neutral ground, sparing both leaders the optics of a formal bilateral visit. But the moment could not be fully separated from what awaited Trump at home. Polling released around his hundredth day in office showed approval ratings at historic lows, a domestic deterioration running in parallel with unresolved questions about Ukraine, Russia, and whether any negotiated peace remained within reach.
Donald Trump arrived at the Vatican on Saturday to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, joining leaders from more than 150 countries in paying respects to the pontiff who had been a frequent critic of his administration. The trip, which included his wife Melania, would become notable not for the ceremony itself but for what happened in the hours before it—a private meeting between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, their first substantive conversation since a contentious exchange in the Oval Office back in February.
The two men sat across from each other on chairs positioned in St Peter's Basilica, having first huddled briefly with French president Emmanuel Macron. Whatever was discussed in that quiet conversation soon became public. Trump took to his social media platform to post his interpretation of the meeting, suggesting that recent Russian missile strikes on civilian areas indicated something troubling about Putin's intentions. "Maybe he doesn't want to stop the war," Trump wrote, adding that the Russian leader appeared to be "tapping me along" and would "have to be dealt with differently." The phrasing was revealing—Trump was not announcing a breakthrough but rather a suspicion, a shift in his assessment of whether negotiations were even possible.
When the two men emerged to take their places among the funeral's guests of honor, the contrast between them was visible in how the crowd received them. Zelenskyy was greeted with cheers from the assembled onlookers. Trump, by contrast, was present as the ceremony unfolded under the weight of the late pope's legacy—a legacy that included pointed disagreements with the current American president. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who delivered the homily, seemed to acknowledge those tensions obliquely. He spoke of the pope's repeated calls to "build bridges, not walls," a clear reference to Trump's immigration policies and the executive order on deportations that had been a signature move of his early weeks in office.
The Vatican setting had provided diplomatic cover for the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, a neutral ground where the two could converse without the optics of either visiting the other's capital or meeting in Washington. But the funeral itself was a reminder that Trump's foreign policy moves were not happening in isolation. They were unfolding against the backdrop of his relationship with the American public, which was deteriorating rapidly.
When Trump returned to the United States aboard Air Force One, he was met with polling data that painted a stark picture. Multiple organizations had released surveys showing his approval ratings at historic lows for a president at the hundred-day mark of his term. The numbers suggested that whatever diplomatic progress he might be making on the world stage, his standing at home was eroding. The timing was significant: as Trump grappled with questions about Putin's willingness to negotiate and Zelenskyy's position in the conflict, he was simultaneously facing a domestic political environment that was increasingly hostile. The convergence of these two pressures—foreign policy uncertainty and domestic unpopularity—would likely shape the decisions ahead.
Citações Notáveis
Maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently— Trump, on Putin's intentions after meeting with Zelenskyy
Build bridges, not walls— Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, quoting Pope Francis's repeated exhortation, in reference to Trump's migration and deportation policies
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
What did Trump actually accomplish in that meeting with Zelenskyy? Did they reach any agreement?
The source doesn't say they reached an agreement. What's notable is what Trump said afterward—he suggested Putin might not want to end the war at all. That's a shift in his framing, not a breakthrough.
So the meeting changed his mind about something?
It seems to have clarified his thinking, or at least his public position. Before, Trump had been more optimistic about negotiating with Putin. After sitting with Zelenskyy, he's questioning whether Putin is negotiating in good faith.
Why does the Vatican matter for this story? Couldn't they have met anywhere?
The Vatican gave them cover—neutral ground, no domestic political baggage. But it also meant Trump was in a place where the late pope's values were being explicitly invoked against his policies. That's not accidental.
The polling numbers—how bad are they really?
Bad enough that the story leads with them. At day 100, a president's approval is usually stabilizing. Trump's is sliding. That constrains what he can do internationally.
Does Zelenskyy come out of this meeting stronger?
He got public cheers at the funeral while Trump faced implicit criticism. And Trump is now publicly questioning Putin's motives. For Zelenskyy, that's useful—it's harder for Trump to pressure him into unfavorable terms if Trump himself is doubting Putin's sincerity.