The Vatican and Trump have had some run-ins, lately. But now the relationship hangs in the balance.
Because the Pope just called Marco Rubio to Rome for a very serious reason.
A MISSION FOR THE MAN TRUMP CALLS THE BEST EVER
When you need a bridge built, you send Marco Rubio. That appears to be the logic behind Secretary of State Rubio’s planned trip to Italy and the Vatican this week — a diplomatic mission aimed at steadying an alliance under strain as Washington and several European capitals spar over Iran, tariffs, and the ongoing question of who bears the cost of shared security.
Rubio, a Catholic, is expected to hold meetings with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top diplomatic official, according to Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, which first reported the trip. He is also expected to sit down with Italy’s foreign and defense ministers — a full diplomatic circuit at a moment when the U.S.-European relationship could use the kind of personal touch that only someone of Rubio’s caliber can provide. Whether a meeting with Pope Leo XIV is on the schedule remains unclear; the pontiff has been vocal in his opposition to American military operations in Iran and the administration’s immigration posture, and the two sides have not exactly been exchanging pleasantries.
President Trump has made his admiration for Rubio’s diplomatic gifts abundantly clear. At his State of the Union address earlier this year, he told the assembled chamber: “People like you.” Trump later joked he might have to fire Rubio after the Munich Security Conference — a quip that, for those fluent in Trump-speak, was the highest possible compliment. “You have done a great job, a great Secretary of State. I think he’ll go down as the best ever,” the president said.
PENTAGON’S GERMANY DRAWDOWN SHAKES THE ALLIANCE — AND PUTS ITALY ON NOTICE
Rubio’s visit lands in the immediate wake of the Pentagon’s announcement Friday of a drawdown of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany — the largest American military footprint in Europe — amid deepening disagreements over Iran policy and unresolved tariff disputes. The move is the clearest signal yet that the Trump administration is serious about demanding reciprocity from allies who benefit from American protection while hedging on American priorities.
Italy — home to nearly 13,000 active U.S. service members across six bases — is watching carefully. President Trump did not mince words about his frustration. “Why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help to us, and Spain has been horrible,” he told reporters Friday from the Oval Office, when asked whether he was considering a troop review in Italy as well. He was blunt about the underlying logic: the European nations that most depend on American protection of the Strait of Hormuz are the ones that have refused to support U.S. operations there. “We don’t use it. We don’t need it. We have a lot of oil,” Trump said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — typically one of the closest and most reliable European allies Trump has — reportedly drew the president’s displeasure after defending Pope Leo and distancing herself from the U.S. position on Iran. Rubio’s visit is aimed in part at patching that relationship, with Italian media reporting that a meeting with Meloni has not been ruled out.
THE POPE PROBLEM — AND WHY RUBIO IS THE RIGHT MESSENGER
The relationship between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV has become one of the more unusual diplomatic subplots of the year. Trump has repeatedly and sharply criticized the American-born pontiff for what he regards as naive anti-war commentary and politically charged statements on immigration. “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible on Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added that Leo “should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church.”
The pope, for his part, told journalists he had “no fear of the Trump administration,” before walking back the combative framing, saying “I will not enter into debate.” The exchange has generated headlines on both sides of the Atlantic and created a diplomatic wrinkle that the administration needs to manage without either capitulating to the Vatican’s political positions or allowing the tension to fester into a broader rift with Catholic voters at home.
That’s precisely why Rubio — a practicing Catholic who attended Leo’s inaugural Mass and held a private meeting with the pope just a year ago — is the ideal emissary. He carries the personal credibility and the faith credentials to engage the Vatican seriously, while remaining fully aligned with the administration’s foreign policy. His trip may not resolve every tension, but it signals that Washington is treating the relationship seriously — and that Rubio remains the indispensable instrument of American diplomacy in a complicated world.
