As U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepares for a high-stakes scheduled meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican this Thursday, the devout Catholic has sought to downplay escalating public criticism of the first American-born pope by President Donald Trump. The diplomatic visit, arranged long before the recent verbal clash between the White House and the Holy See, remains on track despite sharp rhetoric from the commander-in-chief that has put a bilateral religious-diplomatic relationship under unprecedented strain.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on the eve of his departure Tuesday, Rubio acknowledged the public tension but framed the encounter as a necessary opportunity to address shared priorities between the Trump administration and the Vatican. “It’s a trip we had planned from before, and obviously we had some stuff that happened,” Rubio told assembled media. “There’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican.” He pointed to religious freedom as a key area of alignment between the two sides, a policy issue that has long united conservative U.S. leaders and Catholic Church authorities.
The conflict erupted last month after Pope Leo XIV took firm public stances that directly challenged the Trump administration’s foreign policy: he called for an immediate ceasefire to the ongoing Israel- and U.S.-led war in the Middle East, defended the rights of global migrants, and publicly rejected Trump’s inflammatory call to permanently destroy Iranian civilization, labeling the rhetoric “unacceptable.” In response, Trump launched an extraordinary public attack on the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, posting on social media that the pope was “WEAK on crime, and terrible for foreign policy.”
The president doubled down on his criticism in an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt late Monday, falsely claiming that Pope Leo XIV supports Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. “I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people,” Trump told Hewitt. “But I guess if it’s up to the Pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Pope Leo XIV pushed back on the allegations when speaking to reporters Tuesday, reaffirming the Catholic Church’s longstanding, unambiguous opposition to all nuclear weapons and framing his public calls for peace as a core part of the Church’s mission. “The Church’s mission is to preach the Gospel and to preach peace,” the pope said. “If anyone wishes to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully. The Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, so there is no doubt about that, and I simply hope to be heard for the sake of the value of God’s word.”
The growing rift between Trump and the pope carries notable political risks for the president ahead of any future electoral contests. Polling conducted in March and April already shows sliding approval for Trump among American Catholic voters, a key demographic that delivered a majority to Trump in his 2024 presidential election victory.
Beyond religious freedom and the current diplomatic clash, another core topic on Rubio’s agenda for the Vatican talks will be Cuba. The Holy See has long maintained an active diplomatic role on the island, and Rubio, a Cuban-American who has spearheaded the Trump administration’s hardline pressure campaign against the Cuban communist government, is expected to press Vatican leaders for alignment on that front.