ROME – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened his second day of fence-mending meetings Friday with talks scheduled with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in a bid to ease tensions over the war with Iran.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs, his complaints about Europe’s unwillingness to help the U.S. with the war and his attacks against Pope Leo XIV have fueled weeks of sharp disagreements over trade and defense cooperation between the two traditionally strong allies.

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