Rubio Attempts to Mend Relationship with Pope Leo Following Feud with Trump

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo on Thursday and emphasized their “shared commitment to promoting peace” amid an ongoing feud between the pontiff and President Donald Trump.

Rubio arrived in the Vatican on a key diplomatic mission just days after Trump accused Leo of “endangering Catholics” because of the Pope’s opposition to the Iran war.

The two reportedly spoke for two and a half hours and, according to State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, discussed “the situation in the Middle East and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere.”

“The meeting underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity,” Pigott said.

During the visit, Rubio also met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who on the eve of the meeting defended Leo against Trump’s attacks.

“To attack him in this way or to reproach what he does seems a bit strange to me," Parolin said Wednesday.

The officials also discussed “mutual cooperation and pressing international issues” and “reviewed ongoing humanitarian efforts in the Western Hemisphere and efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East.”

The Vatican said the “need to work tirelessly in favor of peace” was discussed in the talks.

In a statement, the Vatican said the two sides then exchanged views on current events “with particular attention to countries marked by war, political tensions, and difficult humanitarian situations.”

There was also a “shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America.”

The meeting had been overshadowed by Trump’s remarks earlier this week, in which he mischaracterized Pope Leo’s position on the Iran war.

“I think he's endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people. But I guess if it's up to the Pope, he thinks it's just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said Monday.

The comments prompted Leo to publicly clarify both his own position and that of the Catholic Church, while urging critics to speak “truthfully.”

“For years, the Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt on that point,” he said Tuesday.

Steve Millies, a professor of Public Theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, told TIME that the visit represented an important diplomatic moment for the Trump Administration because “the Holy See is very important, even for a power like the United States,” given its global influence.

By Thursday, however, tensions appeared to have eased.

During an exchange of gifts at the Vatican, Rubio presented Leo with a small crystal paperweight in the shape of a football, referencing the Pope’s support for the baseball team Chicago White Sox.

"You're a baseball guy, but it has the seal of the State Department," Rubio said. "What to get someone who has everything?" he joked while holding up the paperweight.

Leo, in turn, presented Rubio with a pen seemingly made of olive wood. 

"Olive being of course the plant of peace," the Pope said, adding that it featured his coat of arms, alongside a picture book of Vatican artworks.

The feud between Trump and the Pope explained

Pope Leo, the first American Pope, has repeatedly clashed with the Trump Administration over issues ranging from immigration to the wars in Iran and the ongoing U.S. blockade in Cuba.

Tensions escalated after Trump publicly attacked Leo, accusing him of being “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” after the Pope called for an end to the Iran war.

Trump’s criticism of Leo, combined with a now-deleted AI-generated image depicting himself in a Jesus-like form, also sparked a backlash among Christians and conservatives.

Despite the criticism, Trump continued to repeatedly mischaracterize the Pope’s position on Iran, prompting Leo to once again reiterate his support for diplomacy.

“I always believe that it is much better to enter into dialogue, than to look for arms, and to support the arms industry, which gains billions and billions of dollars each year,” he said.

Rubio continues his diplomatic mission

Before traveling to the Vatican, Rubio insisted the visit had long been planned, while acknowledging that “obviously we had some stuff that happened.”

Rubio also defended Trump, arguing the President’s comments had been misunderstood.

“What the President basically said is that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon because they would use it against places that have a lot of Catholics, and Christians, and others,” Rubio said.

Millies told TIME the dispute comes at a politically sensitive moment for Republicans ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

“For most Catholics, having the President of the United States attack the Pope over and over in this pointed way, pushes a button. It excites a reaction, and the reaction is not one that's going to play well for President Trump or for the Republican Party,” he said.

The trip also represented a political test for Rubio himself, who is widely viewed as a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028.

The Secretary of State is set to continue his diplomatic mission in Italy, where he is due to meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday.

Those meetings are expected to further test Rubio’s diplomatic skills as tensions between Washington and Rome widen after Trump threatened to withdraw U.S. troops from Italy and Spain over their refusal to support the war in Iran.