A forensic lip reader has revealed what Trump allegedly told Melania about his 15-minute meeting with Zelensky before Pope Francis' funeral.
The funeral of Pope Francis drew more than 250,000 mourners and delegations from 164 countries to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Saturday, April 26.
Global figures, including President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and Prince William, were among those paying tribute to the Argentinian pontiff, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88.
During the three-hour Catholic mass, a moment of the "sign of peace" invited attendees to shake hands with one another.
According to the New York Post, forensic lip reader Jeremy Freeman revealed that First Lady Melania Trump quietly encouraged the President to participate, whispering, “Donald, look left".
Following her prompt, Trump shook hands with Estonian President Alar Karis and Spain’s King Felipe VI, greeting them with, “Great to see you, great to see you,” before moving on to shake hands with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
The 78-year-old then engaged in a prolonged, firm handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron, although the two did not exchange words during the handshake.
Freeman noted that Trump appeared to turn back toward Stubb even before the handshake with Macron ended, warmly saying, “Great to see you, Alex, good to see you. How are you doing?”
During the service, Trump also shared a tender exchange with Melania. According to the forensic lip reader, the president leaned in to ask, “You okay?”
The First Lady gave a small nod, after which Trump said: “It was a good discussion.” Melania replied, “Good.” Trump then added, “It’s time,” and Melania responded, “Yes, I agree.”
It is believed the "good discussion" Trump was referring to is the 15-minute conversation he had with President Zelenskyy prior to the funeral procession.
Ahead of the funeral, the pair had indeed met inside St. Peter’s Basilica for a nearly 15-minute conversation, their first meeting since a heated Oval Office confrontation earlier this year.
Images of the meeting quickly went viral, with the White House describing the conversation as a “very productive discussion” and Zelensky echoing the sentiment on X, calling it a “good meeting.”
Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov confirmed the encounter, telling France24: "The leaders agreed to continue their discussions today. Teams are working on organising the continuation of the meeting."
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The meeting followed months of tension between the two leaders.
Trump had previously proposed a controversial Ukraine-Russia peace plan involving the cession of Crimea and parts of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhia to Russia. Zelensky firmly rejected the plan, stating, “There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution. This is our territory - the territory of the people of Ukraine.”
Despite the friction, Trump has continued pushing for negotiations.
However, following Pope Francis's funeral on Saturday, Trump took to Truth Social to share a startling admission, writing: "There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days," - referring to Russia's deadly assault on Kyiv last week.
Trump then added: "It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?' Too many people are dying!!!"