President Donald Trump’s threats tied to Greenland are complicating the next steps in his plan to end the Israel-Hamas war, including efforts to create a U.N.-backed “Board of Peace” with an initial mandate for Gaza.
The Associated Press reported that the U.N. Security Council’s endorsement to form the board had helped Trump enter 2026 with optimism about ending the conflict. It also described Trump’s self-presentation as a “president of peace” who sought to end conflicts rather than create new ones.
But the article said Trump’s early-2026 actions and rhetoric have raised risks for both the Gaza ceasefire approach and the board’s broader ambitions. It cited that Trump ordered a military operation in early January to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and it also pointed to his threats to use force to annex Greenland from Denmark, which is a NATO member.
The board’s development had appeared to be progressing with less controversy around the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where Trump was selecting a group of world leaders focused on Gaza. The AP said the Greenland dispute shifted the dynamic after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on European allies that had rallied to defend Greenland and Denmark.
According to the report, Trump followed with insults and provocative social media posts about seizing Greenland. In one message to Norway’s prime minister, AP said Trump accused the Norwegian government of blocking the independent Nobel committee from awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize, and suggested his primary focus would no longer be peace.
The AP said that while more than 60 invitations to the Board of Peace have been sent out, fewer than 10 have been accepted. It added that among those acceptances were leaders considered to be anti-democratic authoritarians, while it also reported that several of America’s main European partners have declined or stayed noncommittal, including Britain, France and Germany.
European officials and diplomats cited in the report pointed to concerns about the board’s structure and membership. The AP said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters “no to creating an organization as it has been presented, which would replace the United Nations.” It also reported that spokespeople for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they were looking over the terms, and that Starmer’s spokesman Tom Wells said Starmer had concerns about its makeup.
The report described how invitations to leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko have added to European skepticism. It also noted the board’s potential to become a parallel forum to other multilateral bodies, in a context where Britain and France are veto-wielding Western powers on the U.N. Security Council.
At a White House news conference, the AP said Trump acknowledged that he wanted to avoid needing the board, saying: “I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” and adding, “The United Nations never helped me on one war.” The report said Trump also told reporters, “I believe you got to let the U.N. continue, because the potential is so great.”
In the same exchange, the report said Trump predicted a workable outcome tied to NATO, saying: “I think that that we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we’re going to be very happy.” When asked how far he is willing to go to acquire Greenland, AP said Trump responded, “You’ll find out.”
The AP said the rhetoric has alarmed European and U.S. diplomats, including some officials involved in implementing Trump’s foreign policy decisions. One U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the AP that the White House is eager to avoid a scenario in which Trump might be embarrassed by a lack of acclaim in Davos.
The report also said officials floated an approach in which Trump could sign the Board of Peace charter—described as a work in progress—so the board could be founded, while announcements about the rest of its membership would be left for later in January. In that scenario, the AP said Trump could be aiming to give the Gaza initiative time to move while the Greenland uproar settles.
Matthew Schmidt, a professor and defense expert at the University of New Haven, told AP that Greenland and European support for Trump’s other ideas are not separate issues. He said, “They’re not separate issues,” and added that “Donald Trump works in deals, and each deal is different and separate, and the point of each deal is to produce a win for Donald Trump.”
Schmidt told the AP that Trump appears driven by a desire to be in control, and he said, “If he can’t run it, then he will look to replace it.” The AP reported that Schmidt also said, “Who knows if the Board of Peace was a fever dream. But it’s just completely, as we say too often, unprecedented.” The report said the comments reflect how Trump’s Greenland posture could complicate support for multiple foreign-policy tracks.