Rubio and Pope Leo meet at the Vatican after weeks of tension
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pope Leo XIV met Thursday at the Vatican to discuss the situation in the Middle East and other matters.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican early Thursday, days after President Trump reignited his feud with the American-born pontiff over the Iran war. Rubio met with the pope for at 11:30 a.m. local time, according to his daily public schedule. At 12:15 p.m. local time, he met with…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pope Leo XIV met Thursday at the Vatican to discuss the situation in the Middle East and other matters.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to meet with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday, an audience that follows President Donald Trump’s criticism of the first American pontiff over the Iran war.
The meeting at the Vatican followed President Trump’s condemnation of Pope Leo XIV for opposing the war in Iran.
"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.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Rome in an effort to preserve a crucial relationship between Washington and the Holy See.
Leo, the first American pontiff, drew Trump's ire after becoming a firm critic of the war and the administration's hardline immigration policies.