US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican for roughly 2.5 hours on May 7, in what multiple outlets described as a cordial but tense exchange focused on peace in war-torn regions. The meeting came against the backdrop of escalating friction between President Trump and the new Pope.
The sit-down centered on humanitarian concerns in countries ravaged by conflict, with particular attention to the implications of US foreign policy in the Middle East. Trump publicly accused Pope Leo of endangering Catholics by opposing US actions in Iran. Rubio, for his part, defended the administration’s posture on Iran’s nuclear threats.
Media coverage largely framed Rubio’s Vatican visit as an olive branch. An estimated 53 million Catholics live in the United States, and Trump’s support among that demographic has reportedly been slipping.
