US Secretary of State to Visit Vatican and Rome Following Pope Leo's Criticism of Trump
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week. This visit comes just a few weeks after the dispute between Donald Trump and Pope Leo.
According to AFP on Sunday (3/5/2026), Rubio, who is Catholic, is expected to meet with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, according to Italian government sources.
Italian media reported that Rubio will also meet with Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto during the Thursday-Friday visit.
These meetings occur a few weeks after extraordinary criticism from US President Trump towards Pope Leo XIV over the Catholic leader’s anti-war rhetoric.
Trump also dismissed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of his closest European allies, as lacking courage after she defended the US Pope.
Italian media described Rubio’s visit as a meeting to “thaw” relations.
Since taking over leadership of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on 8 May 2025, following the death of Pope Francis, Leo has criticised the Trump administration’s tough stance on immigration.
However, his increasingly strong anti-war rhetoric, particularly after the US-Israel attack on Iran, provoked Trump’s anger.
Trump Condemns Pope Leo’s Criticism
Previously, on 7 April, Leo stated that Trump’s threats to destroy Iran were “unacceptable” and urged Americans to demand that US parliament members “work for peace”.
Trump then condemned the Pope via a social media post as “Weak on Evil, and bad for Foreign Policy”.
Trump also said that he was “not a big fan of Pope Leo” and that he did not “want a Pope who thinks it’s okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons.”
In response to Trump, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned Trump’s criticism as “unacceptable” – which then prompted the president to direct his attacks at her.
“I am surprised by him. I thought he had courage, but I was wrong,” Trump said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
He also accused Meloni – a right-wing leader who has sought to act as a bridge between differing US and European views – of failing to help the United States in NATO.
Trump has threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy, saying that Rome “provides no help to us” in the Iran war.
He has made similar threats against Spain, while the Pentagon has announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany.