Marco Rubio defends Trump’s false claim that Pope Leo wants Iran to have a nuke ahead of meeting with pontiff

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied that his upcoming trip to the Vatican is an attempt to smooth over tensions with Donald Trump’s administration after the president lashed out at Pope Leo XIV and depicted himself as a Christ-like figure in a widely condemned social media post.

But Rubio appeared to echo the president’s baseless allegations that Pope Leo supports Iran building a nuclear arsenal as the U.S. war with Iran stretches into a ninth week under a tenuous ceasefire.

Asked whether he agrees with the president’s recent claim that the Pope’s urgent pleas for peace are endangering Catholics, Rubio told reporters at the White House that the statement is “not an accurate description of what he said.”

“I think what the president basically said is Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon because they would use it in places where there’s a lot of Catholics and Christians and others, for that matter,” Rubio said Tuesday.

“I think the president — without trying to speak for him — but I think I can characterize it this way. He doesn’t understand why anybody — leave aside the Pope — the president, and I, for that matter, I think most people, I cannot understand why anyone would think that it's a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

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In his latest jab at the Catholic leader, Trump told the host of The Hugh Hewitt Show that the Pope “would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

“I don’t think that’s very good,” he said on Sunday’s broadcast with the right-wing media figure.

“I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people, but I guess, if it’s up to the Pope,” he said. “He thinks it's just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”​

Rubio is traveling to Rome and the Vatican May 6-8 to “discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere,” according to the State Department.

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“The trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact it would be normal to engage with them,” Rubio told reporters Tuesday.

But the meeting follows the president’s ongoing attacks against the pontiff, who has repeatedly urged nonviolence and pleaded for peace while the U.S. wages war with Iran.

The Pope — who recently appointed three U.S. bishops who have previously criticized the Trump administration or its supporters — has labeled Trump’s recent threat to eliminate Iranian civilization “unacceptable” but has never advocated for Iran or any other country to possess a nuclear weapon despite the president’s repeated claims.

“I have already spoken from the very first moment of being elected, and now we are close to the anniversary. I said, ‘Peace be with you,’ and the Church’s mission is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If someone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully,” the pontiff said Tuesday.

“The Church has spoken for years against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt there,” he told reporters outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before returning to the Vatican.

“And so I simply hope to be listened to for the value of God’s words,” he said.

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