ROME, May 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, the second day spent calming tensions in Rome following criticism by President Donald Trump. The day after a "friendly and constructive" audience with Pope Leo XIV, whom Trump lambasted for his anti-war rhetoric, Rubio will meet with far-right Meloni at her office in Rome. Meloni is one of the US president's closest European allies, but he has sharply criticised her for failing to help with the war with Iran. In an interview with an Italian newspaper last month, Trump said he was "shocked", saying: "I thought she had courage, but I was wrong." His comments came a day after Meloni said Trump's criticism of Leo, the first ever US pontiff, was unacceptable. More recently, Trump threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome "has not been of any help to us" in the Iran war. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who also met Rubio on Friday, stressed the importance of the transatlantic alliance. "We are absolutely convinced that Europe needs the United States, and that the United States also needs Europe," he said on Thursday. "If there are things we disagree with, we say so, we have said so, and we will say so, because this is what being allies is all about: always with our heads held high, convinced of our position, and we intend to play a role." In a meeting at the Italian foreign ministry on Friday morning, Tajani and other officials presented Rubio with documents tracing the US diplomat's Italian origins. "It's a true honour and a very special moment to receive all of this information," Rubio said, adding that he was going to learn Italian. The Cuban-American, who speaks fluent Spanish, said: "The next time I'm back... I'll give a speech 'in Italiano'." - NATO commitments - Tajani said he intended to discuss with Rubio the issue of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively blocked by Iran, as well as the conflict in Lebanon. They would also discuss Venezuela and Cuba and the war in Ukraine, in which Rome has supported Kyiv against Russia, Italian officials said. Earlier this week, Meloni said the idea of pulling US troops out of Italy was "a decision that does not depend on me, and one that I personally do not agree with". But she added: "Italy has always honoured all its commitments, particularly within NATO, even when our direct interests weren't at stake, in Afghanistan and Iraq." Trump has also threatened to pull US troops out of Spain, while the Pentagon has announced it will withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany. As of December 31, 2025, there were 12,662 active-duty US troops in Italy and 3,814 in Spain. In Germany, there were 36,436.