Marco Rubio holds Rome meetings to signal truce in strained US-Italy ties
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 8
Marco Rubio holds Rome meetings to signal truce in strained US-Italy ties
11 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 8
Rubio met Pope Leo XIV on Thursday and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, calling both Rome talks cordial and reaffirming the U.S.-Italy strategic partnership.
He also voiced strong support for NATO and the transatlantic alliance, while downplaying Trump's planned troop shift from Germany as less than 14% of the US presence there.
The meetings followed weeks of friction over the Iran war and Trump's attacks on the pope, with Rubio again deployed in Europe to calm allies unsettled by the administration.
Can diplomacy mend alliances when the U.S. policies causing the friction with allies like Italy remain unchanged?
With a key global oil chokepoint now closed, what is the plan to prevent a worldwide economic crisis and wider conflict?
As war fuels record profits for oil companies, is the world's critical transition to green energy now in jeopardy?