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It was all jokes between Vice President JD Vance<\/strong> and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni<\/strong>\u00a0as Vance entered the courtyard of Chigi Palace in Rome on Friday. \u201cI\u2019ve been missing you,\u201d Meloni said. The pair had just seen each other the day prior in Washington, DC where Meloni had\u00a0charmed Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0by simply speaking her native language. The effect was no less potent on the VP:<\/p>\n \u201cPrime Minister Meloni, it’s wonderful to see you again, and I hope that’s exactly what you said,\u201d Vance quipped upon hearing Meloni had praised the previous day\u2019s talks to journalists. \u201cOf course, she could have called me a jerk and I wouldn’t know, but it would be in the most beautiful language imaginable, so I wouldn’t even get offended.\u201d<\/p>\n The vice president will be traveling over the coming week with Second Lady Usha Vance<\/strong>\u2014first in Italy where they\u2019ll be until April 24 corresponding with Easter holiday celebrations and then to India. The spring tour set off with Vance jetting to Rome to meet with Meloni in a continuation of the trade discussions that took place at the White House on Thursday.<\/p>\n Vance and his family attended Good Friday services at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica. He\u2019s set to meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin<\/strong>, the Vatican’s secretary of state, to participate in ceremonies for Easter Sunday, but it\u2019s unlikely the vice president will meet with the pope himself as the 88-year-old recovers from a case of double pneumonia. His visit also comes amid a public\u00a0clash<\/a>\u00a0between the vice president and the pope, and as the White House\u00a0prioritizes<\/a>\u00a0its Christian messaging. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, said he was “looking forward to spending Easter here\u201d during brief\u00a0remarks<\/a>\u00a0to the gathered press outside of Meloni\u2019s office. “This is a place that was built by people that love humans and love God.”<\/p>\n He continued his excitement over traveling for work\u00a0in a post on X<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m grateful every day for this job, but particularly today where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday. I wish all Christians all over the world, but particularly those back home in the US, a blessed Good Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n The India leg of the tour\u2014which will be the vice president\u2019s first time in the country\u2014will include stops in New Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra and meetings set with Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/strong>\u00a0to continue discussions around trade relations between the nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n