The Vatican said no.

So did most of Europe.

Trump’s Board of Peace held its first meeting Thursday, but without some key players. The Vatican officially declined the invitation. The UK, France, and Germany sat this one out too.

From The Washington Post:

“President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace will hold its inaugural meeting Thursday in Washington, gathering officials from dozens of countries to hear a status report on his peace plan for the Gaza Strip and what he has described as the board’s ‘unlimited potential’ to become ‘the most consequential international body in history.’ The White House has indicated that the summit for his new ad hoc council at the renamed Donald J Trump Institute of Peace will heavily function as a fundraising round, with Trump announcing on social media that countries have pledged more than $5 billion toward rebuilding Gaza.”

[TWEET EMBED: Trump statement on Board of Peace and $10B pledge]

The White House called the Vatican’s decision “deeply unfortunate.”

But the meeting went on anyway.

From CNN:

“In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said the Board ‘will announce that Member States have pledged more than $5 BILLION DOLLARS toward the Gaza Humanitarian and Reconstruction efforts and have committed thousands of personnel to the effort.’ Major European allies including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany also declined invitations to the first meeting, leaving the board largely composed of Gulf Arab states and other Trump-aligned nations.”

[TWEET EMBED: Conservative reaction to Vatican snub]

The U.S. pledged $10 billion. Trump said it’s “small compared to what we spend on war.”

European allies apparently wanted more control over the funds. They got left out instead.

From The Guardian:

“The White House has indicated that the summit for his new ad hoc council at the renamed Donald J Trump Institute of Peace will heavily function as a fundraising round, with Trump announcing on social media that countries have pledged more than $5bn toward rebuilding Gaza, which has been devastated in the war with Israel and remains in urgent need of reconstruction. The Vatican has not publicly explained its reasoning for declining the invitation, though the decision marks a notable distance between the Holy See and the Trump administration on Middle East peace efforts.”

[TWEET EMBED: Left-wing outrage or European response]

The board now includes Gulf Arab states and other Trump-aligned nations. The countries that showed up pledged billions. The countries that didn’t? They can watch from the sidelines.

The Vatican left the door open for future participation. Europe wanted to run the show. Trump said “here’s the plan, take it or leave it.”

They left it.