Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Italy later this week to meet with local leaders, according to three officials briefed on the plans, in a trip that would take place amid tensions between Washington, Rome and the Vatican.
Mr. Rubio’s visit would come after President Trump repeatedly denounced Pope Leo XIV for criticizing American attacks on Iran and then turned on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, once one of Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies in Europe, for standing by the pontiff.
The U.S. government has not commented on the trip and the Italian government and the Vatican have not confirmed whom Mr. Rubio will meet. Two of the officials, both Italian, said that Mr. Rubio was expected to meet with Antonio Tajani, the Italian foreign minister, and possibly with Ms. Meloni. The third official, from the Vatican, said that Mr. Rubio was set to meet on Thursday with Leo and with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and de facto head of government.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk more freely about sensitive diplomacy. The U.S. Embassy in Rome declined to comment.
Tensions between Mr. Trump and Leo, who was elected to the papacy nearly a year ago, began to rise in March, after the pope spoke out against the war in Iran. Leo then criticized people who use Christian teaching to promote war, in what was interpreted as a condemnation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s repeated use of Christian language to justify the attacks.
The tensions evolved into a direct clash between the president and the pontiff in April, when Mr. Trump attacked the pope on social media, accusing Leo of being “weak on crime” and “catering to the Radical Left.”
Then Leo, who had usually avoided mentioning Mr. Trump’s name during his earlier comments, responded directly.
Speaking to reporters at the beginning of a 10-day tour to four African nations, Leo said: “I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration, nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel. And that’s what I believe I am called here to do.”
The pope’s subsequent speeches on the trip, which condemned authoritarian leadership without naming any particular leader, were then widely interpreted as further criticism of the Trump administration.
Though Leo subsequently disowned such an interpretation, Mr. Trump and other American officials continued to lash out at the pope.
Ms. Meloni, who had already distanced herself from Mr. Trump over the Iran war, then came to Leo’s defense, saying, “I find President Trump’s remarks about the Holy Father unacceptable.”
Mr. Trump took aim at Ms. Meloni, saying in an interview with an Italian newspaper that he was “shocked by her,” adding, “I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.”
Last week, Ms. Meloni said she had not spoken to Mr. Trump since their spat but that Italy’s relationship with the United States remained “solid.”
