Explainer: What is Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’?
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US President Donald Trump will be the chairman of the Board of Peace.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
BRUSSELS – US President Donald Trump’s government has asked countries to pay US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) for a permanent spot on his Board of Peace
The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of war-torn Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.
What exactly will it do? And who has been invited?
To what end?
The Board of Peace will be chaired by Mr Trump, according to its founding charter.
It is “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”, reads the preamble of the charter sent to countries invited to participate.
It will “undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law”, it adds.
Who is boss?
Mr Trump will be chairman but also “separately serve as inaugural representative of the United States of America”.
“The chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfill the Board of Peace’s mission,” the document states.
He will pick members of an executive board to be “leaders of global stature” to “serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the Chairman”.
He may also, “acting on behalf of the Board of Peace”, “adopt resolutions or other directives”.
The chairman can be replaced only in case of “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity”.
Who can be a member?
Member states have to be invited by the US president, and will be represented by their head of state or government.
Each member “shall serve a term of no more than three years”, the charter says.
But “the three-year membership term shall not apply to member states that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the charter’s entry into force”, it adds.
The board will “convene voting meetings at least annually”, and “each member state shall have one vote”.
But while all decisions require “a majority of member states present and voting”, they will also be “subject to the approval of the chairman, who may also cast a vote in his capacity as chairman in the event of a tie”.
Who is already in?
The White House has said its members will include Mr Trump, chairman, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Mr Trump’s special negotiator Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British prime minister Tony Blair, billionaire US financier Marc Rowan, World Bank president Ajay Banga and loyal Trump aide on the National Security Council Robert Gabriel.
Who has been invited?
The list of countries and leaders who say they have been invited include, but are not limited to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Jordan, Brazil, Paraguay, India, Pakistan, Germany, France, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Greece, Morocco, Slovenia and Poland.
When does it start?
The charter says it enters into force “upon expression of consent to be bound by three states”. AFP
