Special Report: President Trump holds first meeting with Pope Francis

Scheduled to begin at 2:15 a.m.

LEFT: U.S. President Donald Trump waves on the South Lawn prior to his departure from the White House on 5/19/17 (Alex Wong/Getty Images) RIGHT: Pope Francis delivers his traditional 'Urbi et Orbi' Blessing on 4/16/17(Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

VATICAN CITY – UPDATE: Donald Trump met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday — the latest in a string of high-level meetings at sites sacred to the world's three great monotheistic religions.

The president smiled broadly beside the pontiff, who appeared more subdued before their 30-minute private conversation.

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According to the Associated Press, Trump told the pope that he "won't forget what you said."

Trump and the pontiff have disagreed in the past. During the election campaign, Francis criticized Trump's promise to build a wall on the Mexican border and his declaration that the United States should turn away Muslim immigrants and refugees.

"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," Francis said then.

Trump reacted to the pontiff's comments by calling Francis "disgraceful" for doubting his faith.

First lady Melania Trump, the president's daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner accompanied him to the Vatican.

The pope's gifts to Trump included a medal by a Roman artist depicting an olive, which is a symbol of peace.

The president responded, "We can use peace."

The pope also gave him copies of his three main teaching documents.

The president told Francis he'd be reading them.

The meeting with the world's more than one billion Catholics caps off a trip during which Trump visited the birthplace of Islam, Saudi Arabia, and then Jerusalem and Bethlehem — highlighting the president's outreach to Muslims, Christians and Jews.

Trump's reception in Europe was low-key compared to the extravagantly warm welcomes he received in Riyadh and Jerusalem. Greenpeace climate change activists projected the message "Planet Earth First" over St. Peter's Basilica on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, protesters hung a sign saying "Rome Resists" on a bridge in the Vatican.

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President Trump is scheduled to hold his first meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday.

NBC News is airing a Special Report to cover the historic event. The Special Report is expected to begin at about 2:15 a.m.

Alex Witt will anchor, joined by NBC News Correspondent Anne Thompson in New York and NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Hallie Jackson at the Vatican.