Private meeting in Vatican lasted half hour.

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, met Pope Francis in the Vatican at 08.30 on Wednesday 24 May.

The private meeting lasted around 30 minutes and was held in the library of the papal apartments. After the meeting President Trump said to Pope Francis: "I won't forget what you said."

The encounter was followed by the traditional exchange of gifts, with Trump presenting the pontiff with a sculpture in bronze entitled Rising Above, as well as works by Martin Luther King. Among the gifts from Pope Francis to Trump was a copy of his encyclical Laudate Si, with his critique of consumerism and uncontrolled development, especially of the environment.

The pontiff also met members of Trump's entourage which included his wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, and US secretary of state Rex Tillerson.

Trump arrived in Rome at 18.30 on 23 May and leaves for Brussels on the evening of 24 May, following meetings with the Italian president Sergio Mattarella and Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni.