Roman Holiday: Rubio goes to reconcile the USA with Italy

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on a visit to Italy from May 7-8. He plans to reconcile Washington with Rome and the Vatican. Relations between the American authorities and their allies deteriorated due to the refusal of the Europeans to support the operation in Iran. President Donald Trump's public spat with Pope Leo XIV, his criticism of Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni and threats to withdraw American troops from Italy also added fuel to the fire. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

He'll go after the thaw

"Marco Rubio will come to Rome to reconcile, as well as to try to restore the constantly falling level of Catholic support for the American administration," the ANSA news agency reports.

The dates of the visit of the US Secretary of State coincide with the first anniversary of the accession to the papal throne of Leo XIV.

The publication notes that the meeting of the head of the State Department with the pontiff is planned first. Some Italian media, citing sources, write only about the upcoming talks with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See.

After that, a meeting is planned in Rome with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Defense Minister Guido Crosetto.

The program of the visit has not yet been finalized, however, according to Italian publications, diplomats from the two countries are working on organizing a personal meeting between Rubio and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which was requested by the American side. It is believed that there is still such an opportunity.

This visit by Rubio to Italy will be the third in the last year, but it will also be the most difficult. "After weeks of unprecedented estrangement on both sides of the Atlantic, this mission of the Secretary of State is being called a "thaw," the publication says.

Acceptable and unacceptable statements

Washington's relations with Rome have worsened after US President Donald Trump criticized Pontiff Leo XIV, the first American-born pope, and then Prime Minister George W. Meloni.

The conflict between the American authorities and the Pope broke out in April. In one of his sermons, Leo XIV called Washington's threats against the Iranian people "absolutely unacceptable."

The Pontiff has repeatedly called for an end to the war and "an end to the spiral of violence," noting that what is happening in the Middle East "hurts all of humanity." He also sharply responded to the demand of US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for a military victory "in the name of Jesus Christ" and did not support the prayer of the Pentagon chief for violence against enemies who "do not deserve mercy."

The Pope stressed that military domination is "alien to the way of Jesus Christ," and the Christian mission is often "distorted by the desire for domination." "We tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, and great when we are feared," he said during a sermon before Easter. The head of the Roman Catholic Church also added that God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and whose "hands are full of blood."

Donald Trump criticized Leo XIV for his stance on the war in Iran. In his social network Truth Social, he called the pontiff "terrible in foreign policy" and "weak in the fight against crime," and also stated that he did not want "a pope who considers Iran's nuclear weapons acceptable."

In response, Leo XIV promised to continue speaking out against the war, and also criticized unnamed politicians who "use religion to achieve their goals." He stressed that now "the world is ruled by a handful of tyrants." The American authorities took it personally, and the pontiff had to justify that his words were not directly addressed to Donald Trump.

Giorgia Meloni, who was previously considered Trump's "best friend" and was the only European leader at the presidential inauguration ceremony in January 2025, stood up for the head of the Vatican. She called the American leader's remarks about the pope "unacceptable."

In addition, the Italian authorities refused to provide the Sigonella air base in Sicily for refueling and transit of American aircraft involved in strikes against Iran. This offended Trump, who had previously called the Italian politician "a fantastic man who does a great job with everything." The US president said he thought Meloni was "brave, but he was wrong."

"She and NATO don't want to help us, they don't want to help us get rid of Iran's nuclear weapons. It is no longer the same as before, and Italy will never be the same: it, like the whole of Europe, is being killed by immigration," the American leader said.

According to local media, Italians were particularly outraged by President Trump's accusations, "bordering on insults," against the head of government.

However, the head of the White House decided not to stop there and threatened, following Germany, from where he announced the withdrawal of at least 5,000 American troops, to withdraw US soldiers from Italy and Spain as well.

Withdrawal of troops is undesirable

The 31st Fighter Wing of the US Air Force is stationed in the north of Italy, in Aviano. It is a key logistics hub for operations in Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The base is part of the NATO "nuclear exchange" system: American B61 tactical bombs are stored here. The withdrawal of troops from Aviano is not just the closure of the airfield, but the dismantling of the very "nuclear umbrella" that has guaranteed Italy's security for decades.

There are about 12-13 thousand US troops in the country, which makes Italy the third country after Germany and Poland in terms of the scale of the American military presence. In addition to Aviano, the future of the U.S. Navy headquarters in Naples and the garrison in Vicenza, where the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the rapid reaction force in Europe, is based, is in question.

For a state whose security depends on control over the Mediterranean, the simultaneous loss of such an operational potential would mean the formation of a military vacuum that Italy could not fill on its own, and would also be a significant blow to the security of the southern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Analysts believe that a final break between the United States and Italy is still unlikely. Even in the event of a reduction in their military contingent, the Americans are likely to retain control of key nodes, moving from direct presence to remote control.