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Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly planning to travel to the Vatican and Italy this week for meetings aimed at steadying relations after public spats between President Donald Trump, Pope Leo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Rubio, a Catholic, is expected to meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top diplomatic official, Reuters reported, citing Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera.
Rubio is also expected to hold talks with Italy’s foreign and defense ministers, the Italian newspapers reported.
The visit would come at a tense moment for U.S.-European relations. The Pentagon on Friday announced a drawdown of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, the largest American base presence in Europe, as disagreements over Iran and tariffs deepen strains between Washington and several European capitals.
TRUMP MEETS WITH ITALIAN PM GIORGIA MELONI AT HIS MAR-A-LAGO RESORT
Trump added he “probably should” weigh a drawdown of U.S. troops for NATO in Italy, too.
“Why shouldn’t I? Italy has not been of any help to us, and Spain has been horrible,” Trump said Friday from the Oval Office.
“I didn’t need the help, but I said, ‘yeah, we’d love to have your help, because I want to see if they’d do it. And they, in all cases, they said, ‘We don’t want to get involved.’ And you know the amazing thing is they use the Strait of Hormuz, and we don’t. We don’t use it. We don’t need it. We have a lot of oil.”
Trump has praised Rubio for his peacemaking and diplomatic efforts.
FIRST AMERICAN POPE WELCOMES VANCE AND RUBIO FOR PRIVATE VATICAN AUDIENCE
“People like you,” Trump said of Rubio during his State of the Union address earlier this year. The president even joked he might consider firing Rubio after the Munich Security Conference for being so likable and effective on the world stage.
“You have done a great job, a great Secretary of State. I think he’ll go down as the best ever.”
Pope Leo and President…
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