In a break from tradition, President Donald Trump did not allow his predecessor to tag along on Air Force One for Pope Francis’ funeral. While on the presidential plane, Trump told reporters he was unaware that ex-President Joe Biden — the nation’s second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy – and Former First Lady Jill Biden would be attending the service at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. “Oh he is?

I didn’t know,” Trump said, according to the Daily Mail. Asked if he would meet with Biden, Trump replied: “It’s not high on my list. It’s really not.” Trump and Biden have had a longstanding feud since the 2020 election, which Trump claimed was rigged in Biden’s favor despite no evidence to back up the assertion.

Trump has also called Biden the “single worst president by far in the history of our country,” while Biden has assailed Trump’s character, calling his successor “unhinged” last year. Former presidents have traveled with their successors to funerals for popes before. Then-President George W. Bush flew with former presidents George H.W.

Bush and Bill Clinton on Air Force One to the funeral Mass for Pope John Paul II in 2005, the Daily Beast reported. Francis, the first pope from South America, died last Monday at 7:35 a.m. Rome time, a day after giving the Easter blessing at St. Peter’s Basilica. He was 88.

The Vatican announced his death weeks after Francis was released from the hospital after recovering from pneumonia.