Trump's Board of Peace: An Unprecedented International Body With a $1 Billion Price Tag

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Video originally published on January 24, 2026.

In January 2026, President Donald Trump formally announced the creation of the Board of Peace at Davos, Switzerland, surrounded by an eclectic group of international figures including the chairman of Manchester City football club, the president of Kazakhstan, Morocco's Foreign Minister, and the President of Kosovo. Notably absent from the ceremony were leaders of America's traditional European allies such as France, Germany, or the United Kingdom. The board has sparked international controversy not only for who supports it, but for who is missing from its ranks, and for its unprecedented structure that requires countries to pay $1 billion for permanent membership in an organization with minimal accountability frameworks and concentrated power in the hands of a single individual.

Key Takeaways

The Board of Peace is an international body designed to pursue peace globally, with origins tracing back to Tony Blair's August 2025 proposal for Gaza administration.

President Trump serves as The Chairman with no term limits and veto power over all major decisions, representing an unprecedented concentration of power in a single individual.

Permanent membership costs $1 billion, paid into a fund controlled by the chairman with limited accountability measures and no detailed oversight framework.

Traditional Western allies including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have largely declined participation, while Gulf states, several Middle Eastern nations, and countries seeking closer alignment with Trump have joined.

The board's relationship with the United Nations remains ambiguous, with concerns it could hollow out the UN's authority by draining attention, money, and decision-making power to an alternative body.

Major questions persist about the board's legitimacy, legal standing under international law, and what happens when Trump leaves office in January 2029, especially since the UN mandate for Gaza expires in late 2027.

Origins and Formation of the Board

The concept for the Board of Peace emerged from the aftermath of the devastating war between Israel and Gaza. In August 2025, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair proposed that Gaza should be administered by an international body following the conflict. President Trump quickly embraced this idea, presenting his own version just weeks later in September during the UN General Assembly.

By October 2025, both Israel and Hamas had partially accepted the concept. In November, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2803, which provided international backing for the framework. However, legal experts warned even at this stage that the resolution represented a breach of international law.

While Resolution 2803 was ostensibly designed to create a mechanism focused specifically on rebuilding Gaza, all indications suggested President Trump envisioned something far more ambitious. According to DW, it was clear Trump wanted to establish a body that could intervene in conflicts globally, operating independently of the Middle East conflict. Notably, Gaza was not mentioned in the founding charter, signaling the broader scope of Trump's vision.

When the White House formally announced the Board of Peace in January 2026, Trump declared with characteristic bombast that it would be "the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place." The announcement ceremony at Davos featured an unusual collection of international figures rather than representatives from America's traditional alliance network.

Structure and Mandate

The board's 11-page charter establishes a mandate to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict. In practical terms, this language suggests the board could involve itself anywhere conflict exists or might emerge.

The most distinctive aspect of the board's structure is its concentration of power in a single individual. President Trump is not merely the inaugural chairman but The Chairman, with no term limits attached to the position. He relinquishes the role only if he chooses to do so or becomes incapacitated. When succession occurs, the position transfers to whomever Trump has handpicked as his successor.

As chairman, Trump possesses final authority on interpreting the charter's meaning and can veto any attempt to remove members or override executive board decisions. This level of personal control represents a significant departure from typical international organizations, which generally emphasize institutional structures over individual authority.

Below Trump in the organizational hierarchy sits an executive board composed of familiar figures from his administration, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff (Trump's Middle East envoy), and Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law), among others. A separate Gaza Peace Board exists with some overlapping membership from the executive board, as well as key figures from Middle Eastern countries including Turkey and Qatar.

The Billion-Dollar Membership Fee

Countries receiving invitations to join the board can participate for three-year terms, following standard international organization practices. However, permanent membership requires a payment of $1 billion within the first year—an unprecedented requirement for an international body.

The destination of these funds raises significant concerns. Rather than flowing into a UN-style pooled fund with multiple layers of bureaucratic oversight, the money goes into a fund controlled by the chairman—President Trump himself. The charter provides minimal detail about how these funds will be used beyond vague language about reconstruction efforts and operational costs. No detailed accountability framework exists, and the charter makes no mention of auditors or independent oversight mechanisms.

Julian Borger, the Guardian's senior international correspondent, characterized the arrangement as a global version of Trump's Mar-a-Lago court. Other observers have been less diplomatic, with some calling it a vanity project and others describing it as a slush fund.

Reactions to the membership fee have varied considerably. Russian President Vladimir Putin saw it as an opportunity for leverage, stating that Moscow would be open to contributing the billion dollars, but only if Washington unfreezes Russian assets first—a condition unlikely to be met in the near future.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney initially accepted Trump's invitation to join the board but expressed concerns about the membership fee's unclear purpose. Carney told reporters that Canada wanted the money to have maximum impact and proposed conditions for Canadian involvement, including unimpeded aid flows at scale to the people of Gaza. After a Canadian government official clarified to POLITICO that Canada would not pay for a seat on the board, President Trump withdrew Canada's invitation.

Intriguingly, the Canadian official also told POLITICO that the charter remained under discussion, and Carney had signaled his intent to accept the invitation in order to gain influence and shape the process from within—a strategy that appears to motivate many countries considering membership.

Who Joined and Why

Andreas Krieg, associate professor of security studies at King's College London, explained to Al Jazeera that the concept of influence drives countries' decisions to join the board. According to Krieg, member nations "will want a direct line into the White House; a seat in the room where contracts, corridors, crossings and timelines are decided; and a chance to shape what 'post-Hamas' means before facts harden on the ground." He characterized paying for participation as buying insurance against future exclusion.

The countries that appeared at Davos to sign the charter reveal who perceives value in this access. Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain joined, as did countries with direct stakes in Gaza's future such as Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey. Argentina under Javier Milei, Indonesia under Prabowo Subianto, and Hungary under Viktor Orbán also signed on. For these nations without direct stakes in Gaza, membership represents an opportunity to align themselves as closely as possible with President Trump.

The absence of America's traditional European allies proved striking. Beyond Europe, major Asian nations including India and Japan have yet to decide on joining the board.

Filippo Boni, a senior lecturer in politics and international studies at the Open University in the UK, told Al Jazeera that part of the reluctance could stem from pressure these countries face. They must either join and undermine the UN, or refuse to join and potentially face tariffs from the US.

Political strategist James Christopher echoed these concerns, adding that Western democracies hesitate to join because they tend to be wary of institutions lacking transparency, legal grounding, and collective governance. Additionally, the board concentrates too much power in one individual.

Despite the controversy surrounding the board, it now exists as a functioning entity, and more countries may join simply to avoid being left out of an influential forum with direct access to the White House.

Relationship With the United Nations

The Board of Peace's relationship with the United Nations represents one of the most pressing questions surrounding the new organization. When a Fox News reporter asked President Trump if the board would replace the UN, he responded that it might, noting that the UN had not been very helpful. He later softened this stance at Davos, saying the board would work with the UN and accomplish what the UN should have done. However, international observers concluded that the goal was clearly to create an organization rivaling the UN.

Krieg told Al Jazeera that abolishing the UN is unnecessary to undermine it. Instead, one can drain attention, drain money, and create a habit where major decisions move to alternative bodies controlled by major powers. The board poses exactly this risk. The UN retains near-universal membership, legal standing, and operational machinery capable of working at scale. However, if countries want the UN to survive as the main stage for international diplomacy, they will need to resist joining the board, fund UN channels, and treat the board as a temporary tool tied to Gaza rather than a model for global conflict management.

The board's UN mandate for Gaza runs through late 2027, which means it expires before Trump's presidential term ends in January 2029. After that expiration, the board's legitimacy becomes even more questionable. Countries that joined may reconsider whether participation still offers value if the board no longer has UN backing. The question of whether they would continue contributing money to a fund controlled by whomever Trump picks as his successor remains unanswered.

Unanswered Questions About Future Operations

The creation of the board has generated far more questions than answers, beginning with what happens when Trump leaves office in January 2029. While the charter states Trump could remain chairman, nothing prevents a future president from withdrawing U.S. support entirely. Given that the board's UN mandate for Gaza expires in late 2027—before Trump's term ends—the organization's legitimacy after that point becomes murky.

Whether the board can actually deliver on its stated purpose of rebuilding Gaza represents perhaps the hardest challenge. Success requires political solutions addressing Palestinian governance, Israeli security concerns, and the underlying issues that precipitated the conflict. Jared Kushner's renderings of beachfront high-rises may appear impressive, but they gloss over the complicated reality of reconstruction in a territory where millions have been displaced, infrastructure has been destroyed, and political tensions remain high.

The question of what the board does beyond Gaza also lacks clarity. The charter states it can intervene in areas affected or threatened by conflict, but does this mean Trump can unilaterally decide the board should involve itself in conflicts in Sudan or Myanmar? Do member countries get a vote on where the board operates, or does the chairman's veto power mean he makes those decisions alone? The charter provides no clarification. This ambiguity might be intentional, giving Trump maximum flexibility, but it also makes other countries nervous about what they are committing to.

If the board decides to intervene in a conflict without a UN Security Council resolution, the legal implications become serious. Under international law, such intervention would likely be illegal. While Trump may feel America has nothing to fear from international law, leaders of less-powerful nations face different calculations. Vladimir Putin has had to cancel travel to nations such as South Africa due to an international arrest warrant against him. If breaking international law can complicate life for the leader of nuclear-armed Russia, the consequences for leaders of far smaller nations could be severe.

Finally, the question of legitimacy looms large. International organizations derive their authority from broad acceptance by the international community. When most of Europe declines to participate, major democracies express serious reservations, and critics call it a pay-to-play scheme, the board begins with a legitimacy deficit it will need to work hard to overcome. If key global players view the board as illegitimate or as an American power grab, they may refuse to cooperate, undermining the board's ability to function effectively.

An Unprecedented Experiment

The Board of Peace represents an unprecedented institution in international relations, which means traditional frameworks for understanding and evaluating such organizations do not readily apply. Many of the fundamental questions about its operation, legitimacy, and future cannot be answered with certainty at this stage.

The next two years will determine whether the Board of Peace becomes what Trump claims it will be—the most prestigious and consequential international body ever created—or whether it becomes another short-lived attempt to reshape global diplomacy around a single administration's vision. For now, the board exists as a functioning entity, countries have signed on as members, and the executive board is in place.

What happens next depends on whether the board can prove itself to be more than just an expensive experiment in presidential authority. Its success or failure will hinge on its ability to deliver tangible results in Gaza, maintain international support beyond Trump's presidency, navigate the complex legal and diplomatic challenges of operating outside traditional international frameworks, and overcome the legitimacy deficit created by the absence of major democratic powers and concerns about its governance structure.

The Board of Peace stands as a test case for whether international cooperation can be restructured around personal relationships and transactional arrangements, or whether the post-World War II system of multilateral institutions, despite its flaws, remains the most viable framework for addressing global conflicts. The answer to that question will have implications extending far beyond Gaza and far beyond the Trump administration.

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FAQ

What is the Board of Peace?

The Board of Peace is an international body designed to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict. It was formally announced by President Trump in January 2026 at Davos, Switzerland, with origins tracing back to Tony Blair's August 2025 proposal for Gaza administration.

How much does permanent membership cost?

Permanent membership in the Board of Peace costs $1 billion, which must be paid within the first year. This money goes into a fund controlled by the chairman (President Trump) rather than a UN-style pooled fund with multiple layers of oversight. The charter provides minimal detail about how these funds will be used beyond vague language about reconstruction efforts and operational costs.

Who has authority over the Board of Peace?

President Trump serves as The Chairman with no term limits, relinquishing the role only if he chooses to or becomes incapacitated. He has final authority on interpreting the charter's meaning and can veto any attempt to remove members or override executive board decisions. When succession occurs, the position transfers to whomever Trump has handpicked as his successor.

Which countries joined the Board of Peace?

Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain joined, as did countries with direct stakes in Gaza's future such as Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey. Argentina under Javier Milei, Indonesia under Prabowo Subianto, and Hungary under Viktor Orbán also signed on. Notably absent were America's traditional European allies, and major Asian nations including India and Japan have yet to decide on joining.

Why did Canada's invitation get withdrawn?

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney initially accepted Trump's invitation but expressed concerns about the membership fee's unclear purpose and proposed conditions including unimpeded aid flows to Gaza. After a Canadian government official clarified to POLITICO that Canada would not pay for a seat on the board, President Trump withdrew Canada's invitation.

Will the Board of Peace replace the United Nations?

When asked if the board would replace the UN, Trump said it might, noting the UN hadn't been very helpful, though he later softened this stance at Davos. Experts suggest the board doesn't need to abolish the UN to undermine it—it can drain attention, money, and create a habit where major decisions move to alternative bodies. The board's UN mandate for Gaza runs through late 2027, after which its legitimacy becomes even more questionable.

What happens when Trump leaves office in 2029?

The charter states Trump could remain chairman even after leaving the presidency, but nothing prevents a future president from withdrawing U.S. support entirely. The board's UN mandate for Gaza expires in late 2027—before Trump's term ends—making the organization's legitimacy after that point murky. It remains unclear whether countries would continue contributing money to a fund controlled by whoever Trump picks as his successor.

What are the legal concerns about the Board of Peace?

Legal experts warned that UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which provided international backing for the framework, represented a breach of international law. If the board intervenes in conflicts without a UN Security Council resolution, such intervention would likely be illegal under international law. This poses particular risks for leaders of less-powerful nations who could face consequences similar to Vladimir Putin's international arrest warrant complications.

Sources

About the Author

Wilfred M. Waimiri

**Wilfred M. Waimiri** creates and presents analysis focused on military doctrine, strategic competition, and conflict dynamics.

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