President Karis: I invited Donald Trump to Estonia, he invited me to Washington
President Alar Karis invited United States President Donald Trump to Estonia while both were seated together at Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday.
President Karis told ERR: "We also talked about him coming to Estonia, and he invited me to Washington," though no full dates were hammered out at this point.
"We will try to find a time when President Trump can come to this corner of the world. Surely he would also visit Finland and Latvia and perhaps other nearby countries, but it is too early to talk about it at this stage," Karis went on. The two leaders exchanged formal visit invitations after the ceremony.
Karis and Trump also discussed transatlantic relations, the Estonian head of state said. "These are important to both of us, not only from a European perspective but also from the American perspective, and President Donald Trump agreed with that. Now we have to see how to make these relations better than they currently are."
Karis added he asked Trump to keep the Ukraine peace process going, and "not that he would walk away at some point."
Trump also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the funeral service. Karis said the U.S. president promised not to walk away from the peace process, "saying we are quite close because he had just met Zelenskyy. I didn't ask for many details about what that meeting brought," Karis added.
The seating plan was arranged in French alphabetical order, placing the heads of state of Estonia and the U.S. next to each other. First Lady Melania Trump was to President Karis' right, with President Trump on her other side.
The Estonian president also spoke to several other heads of state, including King Felipe of Spain, who sat on his other side and has visited Estonia, and the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is soon to visit.
Today in St Peter's Square, I honoured Pope Francis — a global voice for compassion and dignity.
— Alar Karis (@AlarKaris) April 26, 2025
His legacy and message will live on in hearts around the world. pic.twitter.com/uacpexLmAm
Finland's President Alexander Stubb was to Trump's right, separated by an aisle. French President Emmanuel Macron was seated close by, as was President Zelenskyy.
The Estonian President's Office noted Karis was paying tribute to a head of state whose influence extended far beyond religious boundaries and touched broader societal values.
Editor's note: This article was updated to include comments from President Karis.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
