Rubio to visit Vatican, Rome after Trump row with Pope Leo

ROME – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Pope Leo on a trip to Rome this week, in the wake of the pontiff’s clash with President Donald Trump, a Vatican source said on May 3.

The source confirmed Italian media reports about the meeting, which newspapers said would take place on May 7 in an attempt to “thaw” relations.

It comes just weeks after Mr Trump’s extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo XIV over the Catholic leader’s anti-war rhetoric.

An Italian government source earlier told AFP that Mr Rubio would also meet Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Mr Rubio had asked for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Mr Trump’s closest European allies, whom he turned on after she defended the pope, the source added.

Media reports said he was also due to meet Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, amid a deepening rift in transatlantic ties over the Middle East war.

Trump’s ‘unacceptable’ remarks

Pope Leo, 70, will on May 8 mark one year as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, after being elected by cardinals on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis.

As the first ever pope from the United States, his words have arguably carried more weight in Washington than previous pontiffs – and he has used them, criticising notably the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

But it was the pontiff’s increasing anti-war rhetoric, particularly following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, that triggered Mr Trump’s ire.

Pope Leo on April 7 declared Mr Trump’s threat to destroy Iran “unacceptable” and urged Americans to demand that US lawmakers “work for peace”.

The US President slammed the pontiff in a social media post as “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy”.

Mr Trump also said he was “not a big fan of Pope Leo” and that he does not “want a pope who thinks it’s okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon”.

The pontiff responded by saying he had a “moral duty to speak out” against war – and then sparked more headlines with a speech in Cameroon lambasting “tyrants” ransacking the world.

However, he insisted afterwards that the remarks were written long before the row, and said he had not intended to start a new debate with the US president.

Trump’s troops threat

Christians across the world expressed their solidarity with the pope, and Ms Meloni condemned Mr Trump’s remarks as “unacceptable” – prompting the president to turn his fire on her.

“I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” the US president said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

He accused Ms Meloni – a far-right leader who has sought to act as a bridge between diverging US and European views – of failing to help the United States with NATO.

Mr Trump has threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome “has not been of any help to us” in the Iran war.

He has made a similar threat towards Spain, while the Pentagon has announced it will withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany.

As of Dec 31, 2025, there were 12,662 active-duty US troops in Italy and 3,814 in Spain. In Germany, there were 36,436.

In a Sunday address on May 3 in St Peter’s Square, the pope marked World Press Freedom Day. “Unfortunately, this right is often violated – sometimes blatantly, sometimes in more subtle ways,” he said.

“Let us remember the many journalists and reporters who have fallen victim to wars and violence.” AFP