Rubio heads to Rome with Trump’s Iran clash looming over Pope, Meloni talks
Secretary of State Marco Rubio previewed a high-profile trip to Rome from the White House briefing room Tuesday, delivering sharp warnings to Iran and flashing easy command of the podium...
By Fox News · Fox News
Secretary of State Marco Rubio previewed a high-profile trip to Rome from the White House briefing room Tuesday, delivering sharp warnings to Iran and flashing easy command of the podium that drew praise from conservative allies online. "The trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage, and other secretaries of State have done that in the past," Rubio said at the White House press conference on Tuesday of his trip to Italy. The briefing came two days before Rubio is set to visit the Vatican and Italy for meetings amid heightened tensions between President Donald Trump, Pope Leo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over the U.S.-Iran conflict. Rubio used the briefing to defend the administration’s posture toward Tehran, downplay the timing of the Italy visit and signal that Washington is not backing off its pressure campaign. RUBIO TO VISIT ITALY, VATICAN AMID TROOP DRAWDOWN CALL, TENSION WITH TRUMP, POPE LEO: REPORTS "The message to Iran ... these guys are facing real catastrophic destruction to their economy, generational destruction to their economy, generational destruction to the wealth of their country imposed on themselves by the actions that they're taking," said Rubio of Iran on Tuesday. "They should check themselves before they wreck themselves in the direction that they're going," Rubio quipped, referencing Ice Cube's rap song, "Check Yo Self." Rubio, a Catholic, is expected to meet with Pope Leo on Thursday morning, at a time when the pontiff has criticized the Trump administration’s Middle East peacemaking efforts. RUBIO OVERHAULING 'BLOATED' STATE DEPARTMENT IN SWEEPING REFORM "There has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran , and this is truly unacceptable," the pope said in April. "There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more so a moral issue for the good of the whole entire population." RUBIO’S TRUMP ADMIN JUGGLING ACT GROWS AS MEME-WORTHY ROLE LIST BEC…