President-elect Donald Trump (left) and former First Lady Melania Trump (right) pay their respects in front of the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter at the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on Wednesday (Picture: Getty Images)
President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania together paid their respects to the late President Jimmy Carter ahead of his funeral.
Melania held her husband’s hand as they walked through the Capitol Rotunda to Carter’s casket on Wednesday.
While observing Carter lying in state, the Trumps stood with their hands folded in front of them and had a moment of silence.
Melania, dressed in a long black coat, smiled slightly while holding Donald’s hand as they passed other dignitaries.
President-elect Donald Trump walks with Melania Trump at the Capitol on Wednesday (Picture: AP)
President-elect Donald Trump (left) and former First Lady Melania Trump (right) had a minute-long moment of silence for the late Jimmy Carter (Picture: Getty Images)
Carter, who died at the age of 100 on December 29 in his home in Plains, Georgia, has been lying in state in Washington, DC, since Tuesday. His state funeral will take place on Thursday. Carter is the US’s longest-living ex-president.
Trump and the country’s 39th president criticized each other in the past. But Trump recently praised Carter for doing ‘everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans’.
Afterward, the president-elect met with Senate Republicans and discussed his legislative priorities for his 100 days back at the White House.
It was the first time that Trump entered the US Capitol since leaving office in January 2021.
President-elect Donald Trump (left) and Melania Trump (right) had a moment of silence for the late President Jimmy Carter (Picture: Rex Features)
President-elect Donald Trump (middle) and his wife Melania Trump (right) returned to the US Capitol 12 days before Inauguration Day (Picture: AP)
‘It feels great,’ Trump told the press in the building.
‘We’re going to get the results, and we’re going to make America great again.’
The Trumps arrived at the US Capitol just hours before police arrested a man with a machete and three knives who was attempting to enter the complex.
President-elect Donald Trump (middle) and his wife Melania Trump (right) arrived at the US Capitol on Wednesday (Picture: Fox News)
Ex-President Jimmy Carter’s body will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda until a funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington on Thursday (Picture: Getty Images)
Among others who paid respects to Carter on Wednesday were Senators Bernie Sanders and Andy Kim, billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein and businesswoman Luci Baines Johnson.
Trump will be inaugurated at the US’s 47th president in 12 days.
All five living US presidents are expected to attend Carter’s national funeral service on Thursday, and President Joe Biden is set to lead the tributes by delivering a eulogy.
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