Trump's Board of Peace fund sits empty after 4 months despite $7-billion pledge

Four months after the launch, US President Donald Trump's ambitious Board of Peace has not received a single dollar in its official World Bank fund despite member states pledging $17 billion for reconstruction in Gaza, according to the Financial Times.

Four months after its high-profile establishment, the official financial fund for US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace sits completely empty. According to a report by the UK-based newspaper, the Financial Times (FT), of the $7 billion that had been pledged by the board's members to fund reconstruction in Gaza, not a single dollar has been deposited. The organisation has now stalled in a legal and political limbo, effectively freezing anticipated reconstruction projects in devastated Gaza, the FT report added.

When Donald Trump launched the board in January, he lauded it as one of the "most consequential" international organisations ever created.

The initiative solicited eye-watering “lifetime membership” fees of $1 billion from world leaders, pulling in $7 billion in pledges from its 27 member states for a Gaza "relief package," alongside a promised $10 billion in US funding. "Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do, and we'll do it in conjunction with the United Nations," Trump had claimed during the board's launch.

Yet, according to four individuals familiar with the official fund that was set up by the World Bank, it has yet to see a single dollar from donors. "Zero dollars have been deposited," one source told the FT.

DONATIONS ROUTED TO JPMORGAN ACCOUNT INSTEAD OF WORLD BANK

Instead of utilising the World Bank mechanism endorsed by the United Nations (UN), the Board of Peace has diverted incoming donations directly into a private bank account in JPMorgan, the board's spokesperson and another source told the FT. This bypasses the strict financial reporting required by the World Bank, leaving the JPMorgan account free of independent transparency mandates.

Defending the move, a Board of Peace official told the UK-based newspaper that "a number of options were established to receive funding" and that "at this point, contributors have opted to use other options."

The official added that the Board of Peace "will report its financials" to its own executive board consisting of Trump administration officials and advisers "at a time deemed appropriate".

For all intents and purposes, Trump's Board of Peace is running on fumes. Minor trickles of money have bypassed the central fund to keep basic operations afloat, but most of the $7 billion pledged is yet to show up.

Morocco contributed roughly $20 million to cover salaries for a Palestinian technocratic committee and fund the office of Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for postwar Gaza.

The UAE provided $100 million to train a new Gaza police force, but the funds remain frozen, and the programme has not started.

The US State Department plans to reallocate $1.2 billion for related projects, but a senior congressional aide told the FT, "None of that money (has gone to the board). None of that money is being managed by the Board of Peace. And the State tells us there's no intent to have any of that money managed by the Board of Peace."

The US State Department also intends to grant $50 million directly to the board for operational costs, but it has been held up due to the need to assure the US Congress that no money will be released until strict financial controls are implemented.

The State Department stated it "supports the president’s vision" and "continues to evaluate how existing authorities, programmes and inter-agency co-ordination can best support those objectives," reported the FT.

"NOT ONE US DOLLAR" DEPLOYED BY THE BOARD OF PEACE IN GAZA

Despite Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, previously pitching glossy models for a futuristic, AI-powered Gaza with luxury towers, zero ground has been broken.

A recent European Union (EU), UN, and World Bank survey estimated that Gaza needs $70 billion over the next decade for reconstruction, but two sources close to the planning told the FT that "not one US dollar" has actually been deployed to rebuild the enclave devastated by years of Israeli bombardment.

The board blames security, noting that while they have begun tendering for reconstruction and security work, no contracts have been awarded.

"A lot of it is because we're not operating in Gaza yet," the FT quoted the board's spokesperson, where he cited that Hamas has yet to disarm.

Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American businessman who helped negotiate with Hamas, countered that the technocratic committee appointed by the Board of Gaza cannot even enter Gaza due to a shortage of funding.

"They know that if they go to Gaza, people are going to flood them to ask for assistance, and they have no tools, no means,” Bahbah told the FT.

"It's really dismal," he added.

The board's spokesperson pushed back on the idea that they are mismanaging the billions, stating there is currently no authority on the ground "to handle the flow of services and goods that are imagined as part of the plan," adding, "We’re not, like, hoarding money in a bank account and then awarding contracts for things that can’t be delivered."

US LAWMAKERS GROW SCEPTICAL OF THE BOARD OF PEACE

The US lawmakers are growing increasingly sceptical of the organisation's legal status. The FT reported Democratic Senator Brian Schatz as noting a sharp contradiction in how the administration views the entity.

Schatz stated that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the board as "a creature of the UN to contemplate reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Gaza," enjoying legal jurisdiction similar to a UN agency.

Trump, however, views it entirely differently.

"Trump, by contrast, talks about the board as 'sort of king's court'," Schatz was quoted by the FT. "So I just don't know which one it is... It is not obvious to me at all," he added.

Furthermore, contractors are hesitant to step in. Because a UN Security Council resolution labelled the board a temporary "transitional administration" until the Palestinian Authority takes over, its long-term authority is legally murky.

As one prospective contractor summarised to the newspaper, "Who is responsible for Gaza? What law is applicable in Gaza? There's a lot of risk for the companies that try to do this."

For all the claims about restoring global peace made by the "President of Peace" (as Donald Trump described himself as), his flagship peace-making international body has been more or less left high and dry, with members of the Board of Peace yet to honour their funding pledges.

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