President Trump issued a statement “as a mark of respect for the memory” of Pope Francis, who passed away Monday at 88. “As a mark of respect for the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment,” President Trump said. “I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations,” he added. “Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!” Trump said in another post. The Hill reports: Francis died Monday at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta after battling a long series of health complications stemming from a chronic lung disease. The White House on Monday morning also marked Francis’s death with a brief statement on the social platform X that included two images: one of the pope with Trump and another of Francis with Vice President Vance, which was taken on Sunday. Vance met with the pope on Easter Sunday, the day before France died. Vance remarked on his visit this weekend, saying in a message Monday that the pontiff was “obviously very ill” but that he was happy to have met with him. According to the New York Post, President Trump is expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Vatican City later this week. #BREAKING: President Trump is expected to travel to Vatican City to attend the funeral of the late Pope Francis later this week, per NYP This will be Trump’s FIRST visit outside of the U.S. as the 47th President. I can’t think of a better first foreign visit. God Bless Trump pic.twitter.com/PGAOzR3Rxt — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 21, 2025 From the New York Post: The funeral and interment of Francis, who died early Monday at the age of 88, must take place between four and six days after his death, though the exact schedule has yet to be finalized. At the White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump did not say whether he would attend the funeral, telling reporters: “I don’t know yet. We’re going to be briefed on it right now … I just have to look at the timing.” “He was a very good man who loved the world, and he especially loved people that were having a hard time and that’s good with me,” the president added when asked how he would remember Francis, whom Trump met during his first term in 2017. Trump also said he had ordered flags to half-staff across the country to honor Francis, though that direction had not yet been made public as of 1 p.m. Monday. Then-President George W. Bush and his wife Laura attended the 2005 funeral of John Paul II, the most recent pope to die in office.