Funeral for George HW Bush: The apathetic guest

The funeral of George HW Bush was also a meeting of the surviving former US presidents: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had traveled together with their spouses to pay the dead the last honor. The seating arrangement stipulated that the former presidential couples were placed in a row with the incumbent US president and his wife. And that made for interesting scenes even before the funeral ceremony.

The Obamas, the Clintons and the Carters had already taken their seats when Donald and Melania Trump arrived. The conversations in the series fell silent, the looks of those already sitting turned to the presidential couple. The mood at the welcome seemed icy. While First Lady Melania Trump shook hands and waved Jimmy Carter gently, her husband was much more restrained. His erstwhile rival Hillary Clinton and he nodded briefly. There was no emotion on Clinton's face. Bill Clinton then went unnoticed by Trump as did the Carter couple. After all, Donald Trump shook hands with the Obamas.

That's a very awkward moment: The Trumps meet the Obama's (and the Clintons) at President Bush's funeral pic.twitter.com/agbq7Ql2lb

The last of the living presidents, George W. Bush appeared. Trump even stood up for him. The Bushs welcomed the fact that the US president had turned up at all. In the summer he stayed away from a funeral service for the late Senator John McCain. The respected Republican was considered during his lifetime as one of Trump's greatest critics from his own party. And the Bushes had not withheld criticism of Trump in the past.

For the late George HW Bush Trump nevertheless called a national day of mourning. During the ceremony in Texas, however, the incumbent US President then showed little sympathy. He stood out clearly from the crowd of mourners. While George W. Bush spoke in an emotional speech about his deceased father, Trump seemed unmoved. His arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the empty space, the US President made no move during the event and later exchanged barely a word with the visiting guests.

A tweet before the funeral

At the funeral Trump also refused to say a few words about the deceased. However, on Twitter he previously wrote, "This is not a funeral, this is a day of celebration for a great man who has led a long and distinguished life, he will be missed!"

Bush died at his home in Houston at the age of 94 on Friday. He ruled from 1989 to 1993. His death was recorded with grief not only in the US, but worldwide.

The several-day Republican retreat had started when Trump sent a presidential machine to Texas to bring the body of the deceased to Washington. The coffin was then laid out in the Capitol in Washington, where many people said goodbye to the ex-president. When the motorcade with the coffin set out from the Capitol to the cathedral on Wednesday morning, many spectators had gathered in the surrounding streets. Some of them cried.

Meanwhile, the coffin has arrived back in Texas. There Bush is buried next to his wife Barbara and his daughter Robin. Barbara Bush did not die until April this year.