Norms Impact
‘Catholic’ Karoline Leavitt Insults Vatican on First Day of Lent
A White House spokesperson is pressuring the Vatican to legitimize a president-chaired “Board of Peace” that claims control over billions and troops without transparent membership, pledges, or oversight.
Feb 18, 2026
Sources
Summary
The White House press secretary publicly rebuked the Vatican after it declined to participate in President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.” The presidency is being recast as chair of an ad hoc international body to direct Gaza reconstruction and security outside established multilateral crisis-management channels. Our foreign policy and public resources are being tethered to a leader-centric structure that concentrates decision-making in the president’s office while withholding basic accountability details like funding sources and control.
Reality Check
This conduct normalizes a presidency that treats foreign reconstruction funds and military deployments as instruments of a personal diplomatic brand, weakening the guardrails that protect our rights from executive overreach. On these facts alone, it is not clearly chargeable as a federal crime, but it squarely violates core anti–abuse-of-office norms by concentrating control of a $5 billion reconstruction effort in an ad hoc body chaired by the president while withholding basic accountability details. When public power is used to strong-arm institutions into validating a leader-centric “international body,” the precedent is a government that answers to narrative and loyalty rather than transparent process and lawful constraint.
Detail
<p>White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the Vatican on Wednesday, the first day of Lent, after Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Vatican would not participate in President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” and that crisis situations should “above all” be managed by the United Nations.</p><p>Leavitt made the remarks during a White House press briefing, calling the Vatican’s position “deeply unfortunate” and asserting that peace should not be “partisan or political or controversial.” She said the “Board of Peace” is set to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza with Trump as chairman and described it as having “tens of member countries.”</p><p>Leavitt said Trump will announce at the board’s first official meeting on Thursday at the Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., that member states have pledged $5 billion for Gaza reconstruction and thousands of troops to maintain peace and security. She did not identify which countries pledged funds or troops, saying details would be made available. A senior administration official provided a list of 48 countries said to be involved, and scheduled speakers include Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz.</p>