Pope Leo XIV named a veteran Vatican diplomat as his new ambassador to the United States. Archbishop Gabriele Caccia is tasked with managing one of the Holy See’s most important bilateral relationships, which has come under strain over the Trump administration’s war in Iran and immigration crackdown. Caccia is currently the Holy See’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He replaces Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who at age 80 is retiring as apostolic nuncio in Washington.

President Donald Trump plans to attend the dignified transfer for the six U.S. soldiers killed in the Middle East. On Saturday afternoon, Trump will join their mourning families at Delaware's Dover Air Force Base as the soldiers' remains return to the United States. The soldiers died last week in a drone strike on a command center in Kuwait. They served with the 103rd Sustainment Command, a logistics unit based in Des Moines, Iowa. Trump has said bearing witness to a dignified transfer is “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.