Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly planning a trip to the Vatican and Italy this week, stepping into a diplomatic tangle that now involves a public feud between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo, friction with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and a fresh Pentagon decision to pull 5,000 American troops out of Germany, with Italy potentially next on the list. Fox News Digital reported the trip is aimed at steadying relations after weeks of sharp exchanges between Washington, Rome, and the Holy See.
The visit, if confirmed, would put Rubio at the center of multiple overlapping pressure points in the transatlantic relationship, none of them small, and all of them tangled with each other.
Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, cited by Reuters, reported that Rubio is expected to meet Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, and to hold talks with Italy's foreign and defense ministers. La Repubblica added that a meeting with Meloni herself has not been ruled out. Corriere noted that Rubio's schedule has not been finalized.
The backdrop to Rubio's trip is a series of escalating confrontations that have rattled European capitals. On Friday, the Pentagon announced a drawdown of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, the largest American base presence in Europe. That same day, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he "probably should" weigh a similar drawdown of U.S. troops stationed in Italy for NATO.
Italy remains one of the largest hosts of U.S. forces in Europe, with nearly 13,000 active-duty American troops stationed across six bases at the end of 2025. A reduction there would send a signal far louder than any diplomatic cable.
Trump did not mince words about why he was considering the move. Asked whether he should pull troops from Italy, the president said:
"Why shouldn't I? Italy has not been of any help to us, and Spain has been horrible."
He went further, describing how he had tested allied willingness to assist with the Iran situation and found it lacking:
"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."
That is the kind of transactional logic that makes European foreign-policy establishments uncomfortable but resonates with American taxpayers who have been footing the bill for decades. The allies who depend most on Middle Eastern energy routes through the Strait of Hormuz refused to share the burden. Trump noticed.
Layered on top of the NATO friction is a separate and increasingly personal dispute between Trump and Pope Leo. The pontiff has been critical of the Trump administration's peacemaking efforts in the Middle East and has also taken aim at its hard-line immigration policies. Trump has responded with force, repeatedly blasting the pope on social media.
In one Truth Social post, Trump wrote that "Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy." In another, he offered the pope some unsolicited advice:
"Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It's hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it's hurting the Catholic Church."
Pope Leo, for his part, said last month that he had "no fear of the Trump administration" before adding, "I will not enter into debate." That second line has not aged especially well, given the back-and-forth that followed.
The clash drew criticism from Christians across the political spectrum, though the substance of Trump's complaint, that a pope should focus on spiritual leadership rather than left-leaning political activism, is a frustration shared by many faithful Catholics who have watched Vatican messaging drift further from doctrinal priorities. Whether Trump's tone helped or hurt that argument is a separate question.
Enter Rubio. A Catholic himself, the secretary of state is no stranger to the Vatican. In May 2025, he and Vice President JD Vance attended Pope Leo's inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square. The following day, both held a private meeting with the new pontiff in Vatican City.
That earlier visit established a personal channel between Rubio and Pope Leo, one that could prove useful now. Whether Rubio will meet the pope again during this trip remains uncertain. But a sit-down with Parolin, the Vatican's chief diplomat, would at least keep the line open at a senior level.
Trump himself has signaled confidence in Rubio's ability to navigate these waters. Earlier this year, the president singled him out during his State of the Union address, telling him, "People like you." On another occasion, Trump offered an even more direct endorsement:
"You have done a great job, a great secretary of state. I think he'll go down as the best ever."
Rubio's rising profile within the administration has not gone unnoticed. Republican donors have quietly floated his name in conversations about the party's future, a sign that his diplomatic portfolio is building political capital alongside policy results.
Fox News reached out to the White House, State Department, Holy See press office, and the Italian government for comment on the reported trip. No responses were noted in the reporting.
The Meloni dimension adds yet another layer. Trump publicly criticized the Italian prime minister over her stance on the Iran war and her defense of the pope. Meloni, once considered among the most Trump-friendly leaders in Europe, now finds herself on the receiving end of Washington's frustration with allies who talk tough on shared values but go quiet when asked to share costs.
Whether Rubio meets Meloni or not, his talks with Italy's foreign and defense ministers will inevitably touch on the troop question. Nearly 13,000 American service members across six Italian bases represent a massive commitment, one that Trump has now openly suggested he may reconsider. For Rome, that is not an abstract policy debate. It is a direct economic and security interest.
The broader pattern is familiar. Succession conversations within the Republican Party have increasingly centered on who can best carry forward the administration's agenda, and Rubio's willingness to handle high-stakes diplomacy under pressure is part of that calculus.
Rubio's trip, assuming it proceeds, sits at the intersection of several tests. Can the administration maintain its demand for allied burden-sharing without permanently alienating partners it still needs? Can a Catholic secretary of state broker a workable relationship with a pope who seems more interested in political commentary than pastoral restraint? And can Italy be persuaded to step up before Washington decides to step back?
The 2028 Republican field is already taking shape in the background. JD Vance has been positioning himself for a future run, and how both he and Rubio perform on the world stage will matter to voters who care about competence, not just rhetoric.
None of these questions will be resolved in a single week of meetings. But the fact that Rubio is being sent, rather than a lower-level envoy, tells you the administration takes the moment seriously.
Meanwhile, the broader Republican field continues to narrow, which only raises the profile of every move Rubio makes on the international stage.
For decades, American taxpayers funded the defense of allies who thanked them with lectures and empty chairs at the coalition table. If Rubio can get Rome and the Vatican to understand that era is over, the trip will have been worth the flight.
