President Trump on Thursday launched his Board of Peace, a body designed to oversee the implementation of the U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement for the Gaza Strip and to resolve international conflicts, particularly where the United Nations or other entities fail.
Mr. Trump and other top U.S. officials signed a charter for the board alongside leaders from 20 countries that have agreed to join.
Some Western allies have resisted the effort because of worries that it may upset the established order flowing through the United Nations.
For some Trump supporters, that’s the point. They say the United Nations has been too focused on other issues, such as climate change, and is ineffective at ending wars.
“Well, this is a very exciting day,” Mr. Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Everybody wants to be a part of it.”
Mr. Trump downplayed a rift between his board and the United Nations, saying the more established body has “tremendous potential” but has not used it. He said the entities could be complementary.
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“I think the combination of the Board of Peace, with the kind of people we have here, coupled with the United Nations, can be something really unique for the world,” Mr. Trump said.
The primary mission for the Board of Peace is to rebuild Gaza after the Israeli operation against Hamas terrorists, who attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Palestinian official Ali Shaath announced that the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza would reopen next week. It was shuttered for much of the war.
“We have peace in the Middle East. Nobody thought that was possible,” Mr. Trump said. “Many things are happening, many good things.”
The president predicted great things for Gaza, a strip of land between Israel and Egypt that has been reduced to rubble in many places by the war.
“I’m a real estate person at heart, and it’s all about location, and I said, ‘Look at this location on the sea. Look at this beautiful piece of property, what it could be for so many people,’” Mr. Trump said.
Jared Kushner, who is playing a key role in the Gaza peace process, presented plans for investment in a “New Rafah,” including housing and medical facilities, and the “New Gaza,” including coastal tourism, a transportation hub and “energy and digital infrastructure.”
“Once this starts going, we think there should be 100% full employment and opportunity for everybody there,” Mr. Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, said at the Davos event. “We think that this gives the Gazan people an opportunity to live their aspirations. But it all starts with security, and it all starts with governance.”
Mr. Kushner is on the executive board of Mr. Trump’s peace organization, alongside luminaries such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Mr. Rubio said plans for Gaza serve “as an example of what’s possible in other parts of the world.”
He added, “This is what’s possible for other places and other conflicts that seem impossible to solve right now.”
Mr. Trump has characterized himself as the consummate peacemaker during his second term. He boasts of helping end several conflicts around the world.
“Today, the world is richer, safer and much more peaceful than it was just one year ago. We put out all those fires,” he said.
He said he brought peace to the Middle East with his Gaza plan and efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program.
“Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk,” Mr. Trump said during his address to the board.
Membership on the Board of Peace is in flux. Nations were invited to purchase permanent seats for $1 billion each. Adversaries such as China and Russia were reportedly invited to join.
Beijing signaled this week that it would rely on the United Nations as the main body for global peace.
“No matter how the international landscape may evolve, China will stay firmly committed to safeguarding the international system with the U.N. at its core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he floated the idea of using Russian assets, which were frozen in the U.S. over the invasion of Ukraine, to pay the membership fee for the Board of Peace.
“We have already discussed such options with representatives of the American administration,” Mr. Putin said during a meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the Kremlin, per the Tass state news agency.
Some Western allies were reluctant to sign on because of fears that the board would undermine the United Nations or have an ill-defined mission.
Leaders of countries that agreed to join Mr. Trump’s board — Bahrain, Morocco, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan — attended the event in Davos.
“A lot of these leaders, they’ve become my friends,” Mr. Trump said.
One by one, the leaders sat at a large table Thursday to sign the board’s charter and shake hands with Mr. Trump.
An earlier list from the White House included Belgium, though Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot said that was in error.
“Belgium has NOT signed the Charter of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect,” he wrote on X. “We wish for a common and coordinated European response. As many European countries, we have reservations to the proposal.”
France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden are among the nations that have aired doubts about joining or have refused outright. Canada and Britain have not signaled what they plan to do.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that he intends to join the board.
During the signing event, Mr. Trump said he was working on ending the Russia-Ukraine war and pointed to heavy casualties on both sides. He met on the sidelines of Davos with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though reporters were not invited.
“We have meetings, and we think we are making a lot of progress,” Mr. Trump said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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