Vice Presidential Pool Reports of May 17, 2025

VP print pool report #1 - Italy trip - departing JBA

Hello and good morning from Joint Base Andrews. I'll be print pooling Vice President Vance's trip to Rome for the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV, scheduled for Sunday.

VPOTUS and second lady Usha Vance arrived here on Air Force Two, following a closed-press fundraising swing out West.

Pool did not see the Vances before boarding the plane.

After refueling here, Air Force Two is now taxiing, and we will soon be wheels up for Rome's Fiumicino Airport. We are anticipating a roughly 9 hour flight.

VP print pool report #2 - Italy - arrival in Rome

Air Force Two landed at Rome's Fiumicino Airport at 8:37 pm local time. Temps are in the low 60s as the sun sets.

Greeting the VP and second lady on the tarmac, per the VP's office, were:

- Bruno Pasquino, Chief of Protocol, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

- Msgr. Christopher Washington, Head of English Section, Holy See Secretariat

- Laura Hochla, Chargé d'Affaires, U.S. Embassy to the Holy See

After several minutes of handshakes and laughs with their greeters — the conversation was inaudible to the pool — the Vances are in their limo, and as of 9:04 pm local time the motorcade is en route to an unknown location.

One last note: Also traveling with the VP this weekend is Father Henry Stephan of who baptized Vance in 2019.

More info on Father Henry, courtesy of the National Catholic Register, is here: https://www.ncregister.com/news/facts-about-father-henry-stephan

Vance print pool #3 - Italy - visit to Pope Francis' tomb

The VP's motorcade arrived at 9:50 pm local time at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of the four major papal basilicas of Rome.

Vance and the second lady are here, per a spokesperson, to visit the tomb of the late Pope Francis, who died last month.

They were greeted, per the VP's office, by:

-Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Coadjuster Archpriest, Basilica of St. Mary Major

-Msgr. Ivan Recupero, Master of Ceremonies, Basilica of St. Mary Major

Pool was not permitted access to this visit, and we are currently holding in the motorcade's press vans.

VP print pool report #4 - Italy - departed St. Mary Major and lid

VP Vance's motorcade left Basillica of St. Mary Major in Rome at 10:18 pm local time, after about a half hour visiting Pope Francis' tomb.

The VP and second lady have private dinner plans and the press vans, after being briefly stuck in traffic not far from the Colosseum, were sent back to the press hotel for evening.

We have been told we have a lid for the evening.

As a reminder, Vance will attend the papal mass scheduled for 10 am local time — 4 am ET — Sunday.