JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan, has expanded into a larger concept that the administration says could be used to address global conflicts, according to letters sent to world leaders.
Trump is headed to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where more details are expected to emerge. Ahead of Davos, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he agreed to join the board, despite his previous criticism of the board’s committee overseeing the Gaza ceasefire.
A board charter has not yet been made public, but a draft version obtained by The Associated Press indicates that much of the power would be concentrated in Trump’s hands. The draft says a $1 billion contribution would secure permanent membership. A U.S. official confirmed to AP that the draft was accurate as of Monday, but said it is still under constant revision, not finalized, and could change substantially.
The draft charter, obtained from a European diplomat and described by AP as confirmed by the U.S. official as accurate as of Monday, uses expansive language to describe its ambitions. It calls for “the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body,” and says “durable peace” requires “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.” It also sets out an aim “to secure peace in places where it has for too long proven elusive.”
Under the charter draft, the chairman — which Trump says will be him — would have authority to invite member states, break ties in a vote, decide how frequently the board meets, and create or dissolve subsidiary entities. The draft says the board’s expenses would be funded through contributions from member states serving three-year terms, and that members who pay “more than one billion United States dollars in cash” during their first year could obtain a permanent place on the board.
AP reports that letters from Trump to world leaders suggest the board’s scope may go beyond Gaza. In letters sent Friday, Trump said the board would “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict,” and the letters indicate it could operate as a rival to the U.N. Security Council.
Countries already agreeing to take part include Israel, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Argentina, Armenia and Belarus. In addition, invitation letters were sent to Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer; Paraguay’s leader Santiago Peña; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi; and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. AP said Russia, Ukraine, China, Kosovo, India, Slovenia, Croatia, Thailand and the European Union’s executive arm also said they received invitations.
Some U.S. allies have declined to join for now. Norway’s State Secretary Kristoffer Thoner said the American proposal raises “a number of questions that requires further dialogue with the United States” and that Norway would not join the proposed arrangements or attend a signing ceremony in Davos. Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters on the sidelines of Davos that Sweden is not signing up for the board as the text currently stands, AP reported, while Germany’s spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Germany shares “the aim of serving peace in the world” but that the United Nations remains “the central multilateral framework for international crises and conflict management.”
France, which AP said is at odds with the Trump administration over its desire to take over Greenland, signaled it would not join the board as presented. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday: “Yes to implementing the peace plan presented by the president of the United States, which we wholeheartedly support, but no to creating an organization as it has been presented, which would replace the United Nations.” After hearing late Monday that French President Emmanuel Macron was unlikely to join, Trump said, “Well, nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon.” Trump also told reporters: “I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and Champagnes and he’ll join,” and added, “But he doesn’t have to join.”
Beyond the board itself, the White House said an executive board would carry out the vision of the Board of Peace. Its members include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.
The White House also announced members of another board, the Gaza Executive Board, which AP said would oversee implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement described as including deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas, and rebuilding the war-devastated territory. Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and U.N. Mideast envoy, is to serve as the Gaza executive board’s representative overseeing day-to-day matters. Additional members include Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi, Hassan Rashad of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency, Emirati minister Reem Al-Hashimy, Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay, and Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and a Mideast expert. The board will also supervise a newly appointed committee of Palestinian technocrats tasked with running Gaza’s day-to-day affairs.
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