Inside Trump’s Board of Peace: Who’s in, who’s out and what it aims to do
Trump is heading to the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where more details are expected to emerge. Ahead of Davos, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he had agreed to join the panel despite his previous criticism of the committee overseeing the Gaza ceasefire.
Also Read: Trump sitting at Gaza peace table could test India’s ‘reputation and credibility’: GTRI
The board’s charter has not yet been made public, but a draft version obtained by The Associated Press shows that most of the power will be concentrated in Trump’s hands. The draft states that a $1 billion contribution secures permanent membership.
Here’s what you need to know:
Peace Board’s scope looks set to extend beyond Gaza
The Trump administration now appears to envision the Peace Board in a much broader scope, beyond Gaza.
In letters to various world leaders Friday inviting them to the board, Trump said he would “take a bold new approach to resolving global conflict” in response to World War II. He suggested that it could rival the UN Security Council, the most powerful body of the global organization created after World War II. The draft charter for the board, obtained from a European diplomat and confirmed as accurate by a U.S. official as of Monday, uses broad language to describe the goals.
He emphasizes “the need for a more agile and effective international body for peacebuilding” and says that “lasting peace” requires “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.” It adds the aim of “securing peace in places where it has long been difficult to reach.”
Under the charter, the president, whom Trump said he will be, has the power to invite member states, break all ties in a vote, decide how often to meet and create or dissolve subsidiaries.
The expenses of the Peace Council will be covered by contributions from member states that serve for a period of three years. Members who pay “more than a billion US dollars in cash” in their first year can have a permanent seat on the board, the draft states.
The draft is under constant review, has not yet been finalized and could undergo significant changes, according to the U.S. official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Countries around the world are invited
In addition to Israel, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Argentina, Armenia and Belarus also agreed to participate.
Trump also sent an invitation letter to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Paraguayan leader Santiago Pena, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sissi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Russia, Ukraine, China, Kosovo, India, Slovenia, Croatia, Thailand and the executive branch of the European Union also announced that they received invitations.
Starmer’s spokesman, Tom Wells, said that Britain was considering the invitation and had concerns about possible Russian intervention.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was currently “studying the details” and would try to clarify “all the nuances” in contacts with the United States.
Germany responded cautiously and neutrally on Monday, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s spokesman Stefan Kornelius saying his country shared “the goal of serving peace in the world” but that the United Nations remained the “central multilateral framework for international crises and conflict management.”
It is not yet clear how many or which leaders will receive invitations.
Some US allies have already refused
It is stated that Norway, Sweden and France will not take part in the board for now.
“The American offer raises a number of questions that require further dialogue with the United States,” Norwegian Minister of State Kristoffer Thoner said. he said. “Norway will therefore not participate in the proposed arrangements for the Peace Board and will therefore not attend the signing ceremony in Davos.”
According to the Swedish news agency TT, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on the sidelines of Davos that his country has not registered with the Peace Council in its current form. Sweden has not yet responded officially.
France, which has been at loggerheads with the Trump administration over its desire to seize Greenland, a self-governing territory controlled by NATO ally Denmark, apparently has no plans to join the board so far.
“Yes to the implementation of the peace plan presented by the US President, which we wholeheartedly support, but no to the creation of an organization that will replace the United Nations as presented,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday. he said.
Hearing late Monday that French President Emmanuel Macron was unlikely to attend, Trump said: “Nobody wants him because he’ll be leaving office very soon.” he said.
“I’m going to put a 200% tax on their wine and their champagne, and she’s going to participate,” Trump told reporters. “But he doesn’t have to participate.”
Other committees that will work together with the Peace Board
The White House said a steering committee would work to realize the Peace Board’s vision.
Members of the board include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump 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 the members of the Gaza Executive Board, another body that will be responsible for implementing the agreement’s difficult second phase, according to the ceasefire agreement. This includes the deployment of an international security force, disarmament of the Palestinian militant Hamas group and rebuilding the war-torn region.
Former Bulgarian politician and UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov will serve as the Gaza board’s representative responsible for day-to-day affairs. Additional members include: Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi; Hassan Rashad, director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service; Emirati minister Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay; and Sigrid Kaag, former deputy prime minister of the Netherlands and Middle East expert.
The board will also oversee a newly appointed committee of Palestinian technocrats who will run Gaza’s day-to-day affairs.
