Rubio to travel to Italy May 6-8, State Dept says after tensions with pope
Rubio will seek to ease tensions with Pope Leo and discuss the Iran war, Cuba and security ties in talks with Italian and Vatican leaders.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Rome and Vatican City last Thursday and Friday for high-level talks aimed at repairing diplomatic relations with the Holy See and the Italian government.
- The trip addresses friction between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, stemming from Trump's criticisms of the pontiff's stances on the Middle East and the Iran war.
- Rubio met with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to discuss shared security interests and strategic alignment.
- President Trump hinted at reducing US forces in NATO-partner Italy amid dissatisfaction with Rome's cooperation, as the Pentagon recently announced the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany.
- Reconciling US-European agendas remains difficult, particularly regarding maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and policies concerning the Iranian conflict in the Middle East.
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113 Articles
Marco Rubio may lean on a complicated Catholicism when he meets with the pope
(RNS) — Shortly after Pope Leo XIV was elected last May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, himself a Catholic, was asked about his thoughts on the newly minted pontiff’s comments signaling deep concern for immigrants. After defending President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts — which Pope Leo would end up publicly criticizing — Rubio, the son of immigrants, downplayed the pope’s political relevance. “I don’t view the papacy as a political o…
Marco Rubio Shuts Down Leftist Theory About His Trip To The Vatican: 'A Lot To Talk About'
It’s no secret that President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV have some significant differences of opinion, some of which have played out in public statements in both directions over the past several weeks. But with Secretary of State Marco Rubio heading to meet with the pontiff in Rome, he made it clear that this was not a trip aimed at patching up any perceived rift between the Vatican and the White House. The Daily Caller reported on a relevant…
The US Secretary of State will first visit the Pope and then Giorgia Meloni, after Donald Trump has recently fallen out with both of them.
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