President Donald Trump avoided discussing wife Melania’s birthday dinner aboard Air Force One by quickly pivoting to praising her appearance at the pope’s funeral over the weekend.
The first lady turned 55 on Saturday, the same day the late Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome. After the funeral, Trump planned to take Melania for “dinner on the Boeing,” he told reporters on Friday. He also admitted he hadn’t “had much time” to buy her a present.
Asked on Sunday how the birthday celebration had gone, Trump said, “We had a great dinner.”
“She’s a great first lady. People loved her” at the funeral, he added immediately, without elaborating on the meal.
As in years past, Trump didn’t wish his wife a happy birthday on social media. Melania marked the occasion with a photo of herself at the funeral with her eyes closed.
“Thank you all for the heartfelt birthday wishes,” she wrote. “I had the honor of attending Pope Francis’ funeral, on this day, where I prayed for the healing of those who are suffering and for peace in the world.”
More than 200,000 mourners had flocked to the Vatican Saturday to pay their respects to Francis. Dozens of kings, queens, and heads of state also attended the service, which was held at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
The president and first lady were unexpectedly seated in the front row, along with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Melania wore a black suit and dramatic black lace veil and gloves, while her husband opted for a conspicuous navy blue suit.
At one point during the ceremony, Melania appeared to help Trump avoid an awkward gaffe, as she encouraged him to shake French President Emanuel Macron’s hand during the sharing of peace.
They remained mostly somber throughout the mass, which celebrated a pope who had been an outspoken critic of Trump’s mass deportation plans.
“Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice, imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who was a close ally of Francis, said during the homily. “‘Build bridges, not walls,’ was an exhortation he repeated many times.”
The remarks were in Italian with no simultaneous translation, according to the Italian press.
Back in the U.S. on Sunday, Trump told reporters, “The funeral was beautiful. It was a beautiful funeral. As funerals go, it was a beautiful funeral.”
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