Trump presents his Gaza Peace Board without Europe and snubs the UN

WashingtonDonald Trump staged the creation of the so-called Gaza Peace Council, which met for the first time in Washington. He initially presented the creation of the body—of which he is chairman for life—as governing post-war Gaza, but quickly broadened its purpose to help "resolve" all countries in conflict. After disparaging the United Nations at the General Assembly last September, Trump is now creating his own organization to challenge its hegemony. The magnate took great pleasure in listing the attendees, which he touted as further proof of his power. "In case anyone's wondering, we have a lot of rich people here today," he said. Unlike when the ceasefire was announced, European leaders were absent, sending only a delegation of observers. Those who supported him were a core group of representatives from dictatorships and authoritarian governments: from Argentine President Javier Milei to the Prime Minister of Cambodia.

Europe is not convinced by the initiative: in October, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez traveled at the Egypt summit convened by Trump to endorse his ceasefire plan. But today, the only European countries present in Washington were Kosovo, Albania, and Hungary, all three heavily dependent on the United States.

The background music was quite explicit. Before the meeting began, Trump posed for a group photo with the attendees. November Rain from Guns N' Roses, and the Glory by Laura Branigan. To bid farewell to the forty leaders who attended the meeting, the following was used: YMCA The Village People's anthem, which the tycoon has played at every campaign event.

Although the Peace Board was initially created as a colonial government to lead the reconstruction of Gaza, little has been said about the future of the Palestinians. Trump wants this body to extend beyond the Strip. He aspires to supplant the United Nations in this transition to a new international order without multilateralism. "The Peace Board will almost act as a United Nations oversight body, making sure that they function properly," Trump has stated. The Republican wants the Board, which he created in his personal capacity and not as President of the United States, to oversee what the UN does and does not do, without the other major powers being able to veto it.

"We will work very closely with the United Nations. We will strengthen them," Trump stated, without giving further details. It is true that the Peace Board has the approval of the UN Security Council, thanks to the abstention of Russia and China, but it has only been authorized to operate "strictly" in Gaza, as UN spokesman Farhan Haq explained this Thursday. "We should see, in terms of the details, what the Peace Board becomes once it is actually established to know what kind of relationship we would have," Haq said. Trump, who in September said that the UN was useless, argued today that it has "great potential," but conditional on his Peace Board. "Someday I won't be around. But the United Nations will be there, and I think they will be much stronger," the Republican said.

Much of his speech was a string of self-congratulatory remarks about his supposed task of bringing peace to the world. And once again, he complained about not having received the Nobel Peace Prize and blamed Norway. Last year, in As part of his campaign to win the prize, Trump called Norwegian Finance Minister and former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to talk about tariffs and also about the Nobel Prize. "I want to thank Gianni and FIFA for what they're doing. They gave me their first Peace Prize. They saw that Norway played a dirty trick on me and said, 'Let's give them a Peace Prize,'" Trump said, addressing FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was also present at the event as a collaborator. According to the Republican, FIFA will raise $75 million for soccer-related projects in Gaza. FIFA allows the participation of Israeli clubs located in illegal settlements in the West Bank.

While the FIFA president had a seat at the first meeting on the future of Gaza, Trump denied participation to Palestinian representatives. The US president excluded the Palestinian Authority and only gave a voice to the head of the committee of technocrats established at Washington's behest to administer Gaza, Ali Shaath. The Republican handpicked Shaath to lead this body, which also emerged from the ceasefire agreement. In contrast, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar was also present at the meeting. Sa'ar described the day as "historic" and focused on the disarmament of Hamas and the "deradicalization" of the Gaza Strip.

Plans for Gaza

The two main issues looming over this first Peace Council meeting were the disarmament of Hamas, demanded by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement, and the formation of an international force to control Gaza without the need for Israeli soldiers. The surrender of weapons by Hamas is one of the most sensitive aspects of the agreement.the 20-point ceasefire agreement plan of Gaza, which came into effect on October 11. No progress was reported at today's meeting. It also remains unclear what incentives can be offered to Hamas when Tel Aviv has continued bombing the Strip despite the truce.

The issue of disarmament was barely mentioned, while regarding the international force, some countries did express their commitment to sending troops. In total, there are five, as confirmed by Jasper Jeffers, head of international forces: Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Albania. During its remarks, Turkey stated that it is also prepared to contribute troops.

In total, Trump asserted that he has raised $7 billion for the initial payment for the reconstruction of Gaza. Among the contributors are Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait, he explained. Estimates for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which has been reduced to rubble after two years of war, reach $70 billion. The Republican also stated that the United States will commit $10 billion to the Peace Committee, although he did not specify from which budget or line item that money will come.