U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Italy on Wednesday for a three-day mission aimed partly at resetting relations with the Holy See and repairing the cooling political bond between the Trump administration and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Three Italian and European analysts told The Epoch Times that Rubio is well-placed to ease the immediate tensions, but that the strategic costs that have accumulated in recent weeks may be harder to repair.
Rubio said his current meeting had been scheduled prior to Trump’s earlier criticism of Pope Leo XIV last month.
President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of the pope on Monday after weeks of public disagreement. When the pope criticized U.S. strikes on Iran, Trump described the first American pontiff as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” on Truth Social, and accused him of “catering to the Radical Left.”…
Rubio’s Italy Visit Will Ease Tensions but Not Necessarily Close the Gap, Analysts Say
