Report Alleges U.S. Official Threatened Vatican Representative; Officials Deny Confrontation

By Staff Reporter

*Published: 2026-04-09*


*REUTERS/Remo Casilli*

A report published by The Free Press alleged that an official from the Trump administration delivered a threat to a Vatican representative following criticism from Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope. The story prompted discussion on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," where panelists expressed criticism of the reported incident.

According to The Free Press, the meeting occurred after Pope Leo XIV gave a "State of the World" speech in which he criticized aspects of the Trump administration's policies. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby reportedly met with Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican's apostolic nuncio to the United States, and stated: “The United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”

The Pentagon, White House, and Vatican have issued statements denying that any threats were made during the meeting. They described the discussion between Colby and Pierre as respectful and focused on diplomatic matters, with no heated confrontation or menacing language reported by official accounts.

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," host Willie Geist recounted the Free Press report and asked contributor Mike Barnicle for his reaction. Barnicle, who described himself as a lifelong Catholic raised in a Catholic household, called the alleged action "absurd."

“What do you make of what you're hearing here?” Geist asked. “I make that they are once again clowning the atmosphere up, the Trump administration, the idea that they would try to intimidate Pope Leo, the first American-born pope, is just absurd," Barnicle replied. “The idea that they would have anything to say critical of the Catholic church or the pope itself, the pope himself is absurd, especially given the Easter morning tweet from the president of the United States, which was so deeply offensive to any breathing, thinking human being that it's outrageous for the Trump administration to pose any problems they allege they have with the Vatican.”

Barnicle shared a personal anecdote: “I went to parochial school for eight consecutive years, and I got thrown out nearly every year by the nuns. You know, every grade — you deserve early stuff like that.” He added that a core Catholic principle instilled in him was "the least among us," and he accused the Trump administration of failing to uphold it. “So if you look at the Trump administration's behavior toward the least among us, it is almost criminal,” he said. “It is certainly a sin because they don't care for the least among us, and that we should all care for the least among us. Because when we care for them, we care for ourselves.”

Former diplomat Richard Haass, another panelist, questioned the reported priorities of the administration. “I mean, of all the fights to pick,” he said. “So we give Russia a free pass. We let Iran enhance half the stuff it's doing. We attack Europe and so forth –– I go around the world –– we give China a free pass, and who do we go after? We go after our democratic allies, and then we go after the Catholic church.”

Haass described the situation as "preposterous" and noted that it involved forfeiting diplomatic high ground. “That's our priorities for who we want to pick fights with,” he said. “This is, this is, Mike used the word ‘absurd.’ This is preposterous that we are doing. And again, we're forfeiting the high ground. There's actually a serious part of this; we are forfeiting the high ground. Why aren't we trying to build support around the world? The idea that you can do everything with bullets and bombs, you can do some things, but this war should have taught us that you can’t do it all.”

The panel discussion aired on MSNBC, which has been characterized by media analysts as left-leaning. The Free Press report remains disputed, with no independent verification of the alleged quote beyond the initial sourcing. Official denials emphasize that the meeting proceeded without incident.

*(YouTube clip: [youtu.be](youtu.be))*

*(Word count: 612)*