US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with Pope Leo at the Vatican, in what has been viewed as a bid by the White House to ease tensions between the pontiff and President Donald Trump.

The meeting comes just days after President Trump unleashed new criticism of the first American pope, claiming his views on foreign policy were "endangering" Catholics and that the Pope was quote "fine" with Iran having a nuclear weapon – Pope Leo quickly dismissed this as untrue.

The Vatican has issued a statement saying the two had "exchanged views" on the world situation and spoke about "the ​need to work tirelessly in favour of peace."

• GUEST: Francis X Rocca, Vatican Editor of EWTN News
• PRODUCER: Pip Cook