In a recent interview, former Vice President Mike Pence shared that he was glad to have the chance to converse with President-elect Donald Trump during the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter last Thursday.

Pence mentioned, “I appreciated and welcomed the opportunity to talk with the president yesterday,” during a podcast interview recorded on Friday with Christianity Today.

Photographers captured the moment Trump and Pence greeted each other with a handshake and exchanged a few words before the funeral service at Washington National Cathedral. This encounter marked the first public appearance together of the former colleagues since Trump encouraged Pence not to certify the electoral votes for Joe Biden nearly four years back.

“I said, ‘Congratulations, Mr. President,’ and he responded, ‘Thanks, Mike,’” Pence recounted.

During the same interview, Pence addressed the lack of a handshake between his wife, Karen Pence, and Trump; she seemed to avoid greeting him altogether.

“You’d have to ask my wife about her posture,” Mike Pence commented, explaining, “We’ve been married for 44 years, and she loves her husband. I have deep respect for her.”

In his memoir “So Help Me God,” published in 2022, Mike Pence held Trump accountable for threats to his safety after a violent mob, incited by Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud, stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Pence stated that Trump’s “reckless remarks endangered my family and all those at the Capitol.” However, he also noted that they “parted amicably.”

Pence challenged Trump in the Republican primary for the 2024 election but did not succeed. During that campaign, Trump blamed Pence for the riot “in many ways.” In response, Pence asserted that “history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”

After concluding his presidential campaign, Pence opted not to endorse Trump.