STORY: Trump: "Well this is a very exciting day"
U.S. President Donald Trump launched his Board of Peace from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
::What is the Board of Peace?
The organization was initially designed to cement Gaza's rocky ceasefire and was endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of Trump's Gaza peace plan.
Trump who will chair the board says he thinks it will eventually tackle conflicts worldwide.
Board members also include U.S. Gaza negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Leaders from around the world have signed up to participate.
Those joining include Turkey and Saudi Arabia, while traditional Western U.S. allies have been more cautious.
Trump said permanent members must help fund the board with a $1 billion payment.
::Board of Peace vs. UN
France said it will not join the Board of Peace for now because its charter does not correspond with a U.N. resolution to resolve the war in Gaza, and some of the charter's elements were contrary to the U.N. charter.
The decision by France and other nations not to sign up is not a surprise to Yossi Mekelberg,
senior consulting fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.
"And if this Board of Peace, is it going to rival the United Nations? Is it about sidelining the norms created after 1945, based, as expressed in the U.N. Charter, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention. So I, for one, not surprised that countries that believe in a norms-based, rule-based world order are very weary of joining such a body."
U.N. Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq was asked about the relationship between the board and the global organization.
January 21, 2026
JOURNALIST: "Is the secretary-general of the view that the Board of Peace itself undermines the work of the United Nations? Is this a competing organization?"
U.N. DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON, FARHA HAQ: "There have been any number of organizations - regional organizations, defense alliances and others - that have coexisted with the U.N. over the 80 years that the U.N. has been in existence. It's too early to tell what the Board of Peace will look like. One thing we are aware of is, of course, that the Security Council has endorsed the Board of Peace strictly for the work on Gaza, and of course, we continue to abide by that resolution. What happens in the future we'll have to see."
Trump has criticized the UN as ineffective but said he still believed in what he described as its unrealized potential.
:: January 20, 2026
JOURNALIST: "Do you want your Board of Peace to replace the U.N.?"
TRUMP: "Well, it might. I mean, the U.N. just hasn't been very helpful. I'm a big fan of the U.N. potential, but it has never lived up to its potential. The U.N. should have settled every one of the wars that I settled. I never went to them, I never even thought to go to them. They should be able to settle those wars. I believe you've got to let the U.N. continue because the potential is so great."
::Gaza ceasefire
Board Member Jared Kushner said for now he is focused on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
It would address funding for reconstruction in the territory, which lies mostly in ruins, as well as disarmament by Gaza's dominant Palestinian militant group Hamas, one of the most intractable unresolved issues.
"Number one thing is going to be security. Obviously been working very closely with the Israelis to figure out a way through de-escalation. And the next phase is working with Hamas on demilitarization, which I'll talk about in a second. But without security, nobody's going to make investments. Nobody's going to come, you know, build there. We need investments in order to start giving jobs."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he accepted an invitation to join the Board of Peace.
Meanwhile, Palestinian factions have also endorsed Trump's Gaza peace plan and given backing to a transitional Palestinian committee meant to administer the Gaza Strip with oversight by the Board of Peace.
