Trump, world leaders to attend Pope Francis's funeral at tense global moment

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PRESIDENT TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT BIDEN, senior members of Congress and leaders from around the world will gather Saturday in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral.

The somber event comes amid a tense period for global relations, with a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine heading toward a potential make-or-break moment and Trump's trade war rattling economies globally.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the funeral in Rome, and he says he hopes to meet with Trump there, even as anger and frustration has exploded to the forefront between the two and threatens to derail delicate negotiations.

Trump in a Time magazine interview published Friday blamed Ukraine for the war, saying if they had never sought membership in NATO “there would have been a much better chance that it wouldn’t have started.”

The president said Ukraine must be willing to acknowledge Russia’s occupation of Crimea as a part of any peace deal, which Zelensky has said he will not do.

“Crimea will stay with Russia,” Trump said. “And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time. It’s been with them long before Trump came along.”

During his flight to Rome, Trump seethed at Zelensky over Truth Social, saying the Ukrainian leader is "three weeks late" signing a minerals deal with the U.S.

"Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY," Trump posted. "Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!"

RUSSIAN ATTACKS CONTINUE

Russia has pressed ahead with its attacks on Ukraine, even as Trump has demanded Russian President Vladimir Putin pull back.

Ukrainian officials said three people were killed by a Russian drone attack early Friday, less than a day after Trump told Putin to “stop” the attacks and focus on a peace deal.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow on Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday before the attacks that Russia is "ready to reach a deal" with the U.S., although he said some elements need to be “fine tuned.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who was in Washington this week, told reporters he believes “Trump’s leadership could bring this to a positive end” but he’s not certain that Putin wants peace.

“I think the ball is clearly on the Russian court now,” Rutte said.

"I don't know [if Putin wants peace],” he added. “I worked with him for four years between 2010 and 2014 when I was Prime Minister in the Netherlands and I've stopped trying to read his mind.”

The U.S. has repeatedly warned it will walk away from negotiations if a deal isn’t reached soon.

MEANWHILE, IN WASHINGTON...

Washington is preparing for a dramatically scaled back White House Correspondents’ Association dinner weekend, as the media puts on its annual gathering amid tense relations with the Trump administration.

The president will not be on hand and the association canceled the comedy act this year.

The Hill’s Judy Kurtz writes:

“As Washington gears up for the annual buzzy gala amid a touchy political climate, recession fears and sharp tensions between the press and the Trump administration, the District is going lighter on the glitz, dialing down the glam and cutting back on the number of related bashes in general.”