President Donald Trump hosted the inaugural gathering of the newly formed “Board of Peace” Thursday morning in Washington, D.C.
The board was originally proposed by the Trump administration last year as a way to oversee the 20-point peace plan to end conflict between Israel and Gaza, but now there appears to be an even more ambitious vision for the group.
The Board of Peace
In January, the White House announced President Trump would serve as a chairman alongside a founding executive board made up Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair among others.
As reported on Friday’s AM Update, top Trump officials including Vice President J.D. Vance, Rubio, Witkoff, and Kushner attended Thursday’s event, as did representatives from more than 40 countries.
President Trump, in true businessman fashion, framed the board as a coalition of global leaders focused on ending wars, advancing stability, and, yes, saving money. “The Board of Peace is one of the most important and consequential things, I think, that I’ll be involved in,” he said. “There’s nothing more important than peace. And there’s nothing less expensive than peace. You know, when you go to wars, it costs you 100 times what it costs to make peace.”
He called the board the “best team ever assembled,” though some key U.S. allies declining invites to join. France was the first to reject its invitation, citing concerns that the board’s charter “goes beyond the framework of Gaza and raises serious questions, in particular with respect to the principles and structure of the United Nations, which cannot be called into question.”
Austria, Greece, New Zealand, Norway, and the Vatican also opted not to join due to similar concerns.
An Expanded Mission
The U.N. Security Council in November endorsed a narrowly tailored board tied specifically to governing Gaza during reconstruction. But President Trump introduced a significantly expanded vision months later, with the official charter making no mention of Gaza at all.
Instead, the charter outlined a broader mandate to “promote stability, restore dependable, and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.” In a less than subtle shot at the U.N., the charter notes that “too many approaches to peace-building foster perpetual dependency and institutionalized crisis” and posits that a “more nimble and effective” alternative is necessary.
Trump’s Vision
In yesterday’s remarks, President Trump described a close working relationship with the United Nations, while also suggesting the Board of Peace could play a role in strengthening how the U.N. operates. “We are very closely working with the United Nations,” he said. “I think the United Nations has great potential… It has not lived up to potential. The eight wars, I never even spoke to them about one of them and I should be speaking to them about all of them.”
“The United Nations will be, I think… much stronger and the Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly,” Trump continued. “We are going to strengthen up the United Nations. We’re going to make sure its facilities are good. If they need help money-wise, we will help them money-wise. And we’re going to make sure that the United Nations is viable.”
To that point, the president announced the United States will contribute $10 billion to the board, though it is unclear where that money will come from and a donation of that size would likely require Congressional approval. Meanwhile, Trump said nine nations had pledged more than $7 billion to Gaza relief in particular.
Following President Trump’s remarks, Vice President Vance made the case for why Americans should support the Board of Peace. “I think it’s important that the American people recognize why we’re here today,” he said. “Yes, to save lives and, yes, to promote peace, but this creates incredible prosperity for the American people.”
“The countries represented here represent trillions of dollars of investment in the United States of America. That would not have been possible without this president’s leadership and advocacy for peace,” Vance added. “The economies here represent millions of American jobs, of people who are receiving products built in American factories and made by American workers, would not be possible without a focus on peace.”
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