May 2026: TRUMP PRESIDENCY In Rome, Rubio is gifted documents detailing his Italian heritage

In Rome, Rubio is gifted documents detailing his Italian heritage
"Despite her increasingly tense relationship with President Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday gave a rare gift to Secretary of State Marco Rubio: proof of his family’s Italian origins.
Rubio received the documentation at Italy’s Foreign Ministry on Friday under the supervision of Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. The honor was given in recognition of Rubio’s family history tied to Piedmont, Italian officials said.

A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief the media, said that the document did not confer citizenship either honorary or legal.
In a ceremony, Tajani, Piedmont Region President Alberto Cirio and Mayor of Casal Monferrato Emanuele Capra presented “the family tree of his Italian origins and documents from the research they conducted in the municipal and church archives” that certified Rubio’s Italian family history, the official said. Rubio also received gifts from Piedmont.
In brief remarks, Rubio said it was a “true honor” to receive the documentation and said that visiting Piedmont would be “one more reason to be back” in Italy. Rubio added that he would give a speech in Italian next time he’s in the country.
“I need to learn a third language,” said Rubio. Italian would be “by far the easiest one,” he said, as he already speaks Spanish.
The Italian leader’s move to emphasize Rubio’s Italian heritage comes as Meloni has endured withering criticism from Trump, who told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera last week that he had been “wrong” to think that the Italian prime minister had “courage.”
Meloni, a member of Italy’s right wing, had been seen as a rare European leader who could maintain close ties to Trump, but the political and economic fallout from the war against Iran and Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV prompted her to distance herself from the U.S. administration.
Rubio’s brief trip to Rome this week aimed to calm these tensions. The top U.S. diplomat, who is a practicing Catholic, met Leo on Thursday, an encounter that U.S. officials were quick to describe as friendly and constructive. Rubio brought his wife, as well as his close friend Sergio Gor, to join the visit to the Vatican." 

msn