President-elect Donald Trump visits Jimmy Carter's casket in Capitol Rotunda

Presidentelect Donald Trump who has alternated among praising criticising and even mocking Jimmy Carter came Wednesday to the Capitol Rotunda to pay his respects as the 39th president lay in state ahead of his funeral Thursday in the nations capitalCarter was often the target of Trumps derision during his 2024 campaign and the presidentelect has renewed his critique of the Georgia Democrat this week amid his state funeral rites for ceding control of the Panama Canal to its home country when he was president more than four decades agoTrump who plans to attend Carters funeral Thursday at Washington National Cathedral played it straight on Capitol Hill walking somberly into the rotunda with his wife Melania and pausing in front of Carters flagdraped casket which is resting atop the Lincoln catafalque and stands surrounded by a military honour guardTrump was on Capitol Hill to meet with Republican senators 12 days before he takes office for the second time His visit to the rotunda briefly paused the steady stream of citizens who waited in long lines on Capitol Hill to file past Carters remainsMembers of Congress Hill staffers and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy were among the steady stream Lynda Robb and Luci Baines Johnson the daughters of President Lyndon Johnson paid their respects as well Luci aines Johnson blew a kiss toward the casket as she walked awayCarter the longestlived US president died December 29 at the age of 100 A US Naval Academy graduate submarine officer and peanut farmer before entering politics Carter won the White House as an outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and WatergateHe endured a rocky four years of economic unrest and international crises that ended with his defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan But he also lived long enough to see historians reassess his presidency more charitably than voters did in 1980 and the national rites of a state funeral afford him a notable counter to the often testy relationship he had with Washington during his four years in the Oval OfficePresident Carter was the governor of the great state of Georgia when I was born said Lyn Leverett among the people who waited in belowfreezing weather Wednesday So hes been around my you know my whole entire being And I just want to pay my respects to a decent personSome visitors fondly recalled personal connections to Carters 1976 campaign when his family close friends and other supporters from Georgia formed the Peanut Brigade to fan out across Iowa New Hampshire and other key primary states and help Carter surprise the Washington establishment by winning the Democratic nominationIm originally from Nashua New Hampshire and when I was a child Jimmy Carter slept at my house said Susan Prolman He had just won the Iowa caucuses and he was in New Hampshire campaigning for the firstinthenation New Hampshire presidential primary And I created this little poster for him and he very kindly signed itMargaret Fitzpatrick of Kensington Maryland recalled a family friend who had attended the Naval Academy with Carter in the 1940s and later hosted him as a presidential candidate But she and others said what most drew them to the Capitol was what they remember of Carter once he left office and the distinctions they see between Carter and TrumpThe contrast is amazing Fitzpatrick said as she noted the juxtaposition of Carters funeral with the obvious preparations around Washington for Trumps Jan 20 inauguration Im here to respect somebody who has built a reputation on honesty character and integrity President Carter was a decent kind genuine and gentle personKim James also a Maryland resident said she had yet to start grade school when Carter was elected and thinks of him more as the whitehaired former president who fought disease and advocated for democracy in the developing world and built homes for Habitat for Humanity in the US and abroadHe cared about other people she said adding that political leaders today should work harder to replicate that example That selflessness it always stood outOfficial ceremonies this week also have remembered Carters religious convictions long public service and decades of humanitarian work beyond what he accomplished in politics Vice President Kamala Harris House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune eulogized Carter day earlier at the Capitol when his remains first arrived in the rotundaSaid Johnson in his tribute In the face of illness President Jimmy Carter brought lifesaving medicine In the face of conflict he brokered peace In the face of discrimination he reminded us that we are all made in the image of God And if you were to ask him why he did it all he would likely point to his faithCarter will remain at the Capitol until Thursday morning when he is transported to Washington National Cathedral for a state funeral President Joe Biden a longtime Carter ally will deliver a eulogy Other living former presidents including Trump are expected to attendAfter the funeral the Boeing 747 that is Air Force One when a sitting president is aboard will carry Carter and his family back to Georgia An invitationonly funeral will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church in tiny Plains Georgia where Carter taught Sunday School for decades after leaving officeCarter will be buried next to his wife former first lady Rosalynn Carter in a plot near the home they built before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and where they lived out their lives with the exception of four years in the Georgia Governors Mansion and four years in the White HouseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever