Trump Gets His Board Of Peace, Even As Bigger Countries Steer Clear

The first meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace on Thursday was heavy on the president but light on other details, as a small group of member countries offered major financial commitments and said they would defer to the White House on rebuilding Gaza.

Some two dozen member countries that have signed on to Trump’s new venture announced more than $6.5 billion in financial pledges after a 47-minute stemwinder from the president, who lavished praise on the all-male group of world leaders in the room and insisted the nascent effort will work with, and not against, the United Nations.

Declaring it to be “the most prestigious board ever put together,” Trump announced a $10 billion financial commitment from the U.S. and promised that the board’s work would “strengthen up the United Nations.” But in the same remarks, he said that the board would “almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly.”

That the U.N.’s charter does not authorize any sort of oversight organization appeared to be of little consequence for the president, whose desire to personally oversee and control a new multilateral humanitarian organization appears to be taking shape.

And what seemed like a long shot when Trump first pitched the idea in September is now a reality. Despite skepticism from Democrats, Europeans, the United Nations and Palestinians, the president’s new venture won considerable momentum this week — even as it forces America’s traditional allies to take a backseat.

“The Kingdom of Bahrain recognizes and endorses the tremendous potential of this body, the extraordinary drive of its chairman and his sincere effort to unify nations and our common objective of fostering an enduring peace for the Middle East,” said Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

For as much as the board’s first meeting appeared to have the trappings of another Trump vanity project, the commitments by several members to the rebuilding of Gaza were concrete. The financial commitments include $1.2 billion from the United Arab Emirates and $1 million from Saudi Arabia. The World Bank will manage the donations and disburse them under the Board of Peace’s direction, said Ajay Banga, the bank's president.

An administration official later clarified that the $10 billion U.S. commitment was part of a 10-year rebuilding plan, “which we will work on in conjunction with Congress.”

The initial investment of roughly $1.25 billion would go toward ordnance removal, temporary housing, security, medical provisions and other needs, the official said.

Likewise, at least five countries committed troops to a new stabilization force for Gaza, said U.S. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers. And 2,000 people applied to join a new Palestinian police force in Gaza, said Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza.

The scale of pledges is fitting after Israel shattered the Palestinian enclave following the 2023 Hamas attack. Recovery will cost some $53 billion, according to a report out Wednesday by the World Bank, UN and European Union.

But it’s not clear how Trump’s launching of a board to upend the usual diplomatic channels will work, either at home or abroad. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio today calling the board an “overt attempt to replace” the U.N. and asking how the administration intended to comply with statutory requirements to notify Congress of international commitments.

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho) supports Trump’s efforts to bring peace, said a committee spokesperson, who, like some others in this story, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic issues.

The U.S. is also some $4 billion in arrears on its UN dues. The State Department accused the U.N. of exorbitant expenses and told NatSec Daily, “The premise that the U.S. ‘owes’ the U.N. anything is categorically false.”

Trump on Thursday promised to help the U.N, “money-wise,” adding “we’re going to make sure the United Nations is viable.”

The role of Europe is similarly murky. Hungary and Bulgaria were the only two EU members to formally join, but the EU, Austria, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia all sent observers, as did Switzerland.

“So many of our friends in Europe are attending today, and we're eager to have them become full members. They all want to become full members,” Trump said, while acknowledging that “some [countries] are trying to play cute.”

Norway, France and the EU have all said they’re not joining.

Trump, who has three years remaining in his final term, has appointed himself the board’s lifelong chairman, giving himself the unilateral authority to veto decisions, approve the agenda, and select his own successor. That structure has given a number of countries pause.

“Most countries that matter do not want an ill-defined, permanently Trump-led organization to compete with or supersede existing multilateral organizations,” said a European diplomatic official. “That’s why you saw that only smaller countries, with narrower individual reasons to benefit from saying yes, were the only ones [the White House] could get to sign on.”

Trump did get buy-in from FIFA President Gianni Infantino who pledged some $75 million for soccer-related projects in Gaza.

Two Israelis on the Board of Peace outlined their plans for reconstruction. Developer Yakir Gabay conjured “a new Mediterranean Riviera with 200 hotels and potential islands” and Liran Tancman promised a “secure digital backbone.” (Tancman was reportedly among the Israeli businessmen who helped set up the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation).

The sole Palestinian speaker, Ali Shaath, gave a more sober assessment. He heads the technocratic committee handling day-to-day governance of Gaza and said he’d prioritize security, jobs, emergency relief and basic services.

“We are operating in extremely difficult conditions,” he said.

Hani Almadhoun, a Palestinian-American running a food aid organization in Gaza, said other than Shaath, he did not know of any Palestinians, including himself, who are involved in the Board of Peace conversations.

“This is a farce,” he said. “It’s like trying to have a wedding without the bride.”

Farce or not, the music has started.

“Many in Europe say the Board of Peace is meant to substitute the U.N. It does not look to me like an attempt to replace the U.N. but if it helps shake that agonizing giant and inshallah wake it up, then God bless the Board of Peace,” said Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.