WATCH LIVE: White House briefing with Rubio may address Vatican trip, Strait of Hormuz efforts

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Rome and Vatican City this week in a bid to ease rising tensions between Trump and Pope Leo XIV over U.S. policies, particularly the Iran war.

Rubio is expected to hold a White House briefing at 3 p.m. EDT. Watch live in our video player above.

The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a Catholic who with this trip will have visited Italy or the Vatican at least three times as the Republican president's top diplomat, would be in Italy on Thursday and Friday. The Vatican announced that Rubio would meet with Leo, the first American pontiff, on Thursday.

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"Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere," the department said. "Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment."

The trip comes as Trump has criticized Leo for his stances on the Middle East and elsewhere and as the president has drawn pushback for posting a social media image likening himself to Jesus Christ.