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Secretary of State Marco Rubio previewed a trip to Rome from the White House briefing room on Tuesday, delivering sharp warnings on Iran and delivering a simple podium order that drew praise from conservative allies online.
“The trip doesn’t really have anything to do with anything other than it would be a normal thing for us to share, and other secretaries of State have done that in the past,” Rubio said at a White House press conference on Tuesday about his trip to Italy.
The briefing came two days before Rubio is due to visit the Vatican and Italy for meetings amid heightened tensions between President Donald Trump, Pope Leo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni over the US-Iran conflict. Rubio used the forum to defend the administration’s stance toward Tehran, downplaying the timing of the visit to Italy and showing that Washington does not support its pressure campaign.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves to speak to reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on May 5, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
“The message to Iran … these guys are facing the destruction of their economy, the destruction of their economy, the destruction of their country’s wealth that has been imposed on them for the actions that they have taken,” Rubio of Iran said on Tuesday.
“They’ve got to check themselves before they break where they’re going,” Rubio said, referring to Ice Cube’s rap song, “Check Yo Self.”
Rubio, who is Catholic, is expected to meet with Pope Leo Thursday morning, when the pope criticized the Trump administration’s efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.
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“There has also been this threat against all the people of Iran, and this is absolutely unacceptable,” the pope said in April. “Of course there are issues of international law here, but more so it’s a moral issue for the benefit of the entire population.”
Rubio insisted that the move to provide military support to ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz near Iran was a “defensive exercise,” saying the US would only fire if fired upon. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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These words seem to refer to one of Trump’s Truth Social posts, where he wrote, “The whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back. I don’t want that to happen, but maybe it will happen … God Bless the Great People of Iran!”
Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office that he had one message for the Pope.
“I can tell you this, that as far as the Pope is concerned, and it is very simple. Whether I please him or not, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And he seemed to say that they can. And I say they cannot, because if that happened, the whole world would be hostages. And we will not allow that to happen,” he said.
The Vatican has announced that it will not participate in President Trump’s Gaza recovery plan. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
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Rubio will also meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, who has been distancing himself from the US amid growing domestic and political pressure over the growing conflict in the Middle East.
The meeting comes as President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on NATO allies to cooperate with the US against Iran, including ordering the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany – a drawdown expected to take place over the next six to 12 months.
Rubio will travel to Italy on Wednesday where he will have meetings with Pope Leo and Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni. (Photos by Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Meloni said on Tuesday that he would not support any attempt to reduce the US military presence in Italy, drawing a contrast with Trump’s campaign to redeploy US forces in Europe.
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Italy remains a key US security base in Europe, hosting nearly 13,000 US troops operating at six bases by late 2025.
Rubio attends his high-profile meetings after social media commentators and conservative leaders applauded how he joined Caroline Leavitt backstage after she took maternity leave late last month. The secretary joked with reporters, asked questions in multiple languages and delivered direct warnings to Iran, giving supporters a glimpse of his presence on the Rome trip.
“Marco Rubio is showing the nation and the world what we’ve known about him for decades,” Florida Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez told X. “Rubio is one of the most articulate, articulate, and incredibly talented statesmen of our time.”
“President Trump made the BEST choice for himself. He proves that every day,” he added.
