President Trump and Pope Francis will meet in the Vatican's Papal Palace on Wednesday, May 24 at 8:30 AM Rome Time and 2:30 AM EST. This is the first time the US President and the leader of the global Catholic Church will meet.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA, releases the following statement:

"The only way we can understand this meeting is that we have two world leaders with very different world views. President Trump wants deregulation for economic growth in America and Pope Francis wants greater financial transparency to protect the poor and to protect jobs for working people all around the world.

"No matter what issues Pope Francis and President Trump discuss behind closed doors, they are focusing on economic issues and how those issues impact all of us. 

"One of the things that the Holy Father and President Trump have in common is that on almost any issue they each speak about, they frame it in terms of economic impacts.

"Pope Francis and President Trump held several positions in common when Trump was running for president. They were both critical of predatory hedge funds and of trade negotiations that left poor and working people behind.‎"