Trump hosts Board of Peace signing ceremony at Davos

by · UPI

Jan. 22 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump held a signing ceremony for his new Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, calling it one of the "most consequential bodies" ever created.

"As everyone can see today, the first steps toward a brighter day for the Middle East and a much safer future for the world are unfolding right before your very eyes," Trump said. "Together we are in a position to have an incredible chance -- I don't even call it a chance, I think it's going to happen -- to end decades of suffering, stop generations of hatred and bloodshed and forge a beautiful, ever-lasting and glorious peace for that region."

About 25 countries have accepted his invitation to join the board, but some of the United States' closest allies have rejected it.

Some countries have asked whether an alternative to the United Nations is necessary.

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Trump sent invitations over the weekend to more than 50 leaders around the world, U.S. officials have said. A White House official told ABC News that more than 30 countries are expected to join.

"I think the Board of Peace will be the most prestigious board ever, and it's going to get a lot of work done that the United Nations should have done," Trump said Wednesday. "And we'll work with the United Nations. But the Board of Peace is going to be special. We're going to have peace."

Trump was asked by a reporter on Tuesday if the body would replace the United Nations, and Trump responded, "It might."

France, Norway, Denmark, Slovenia and Sweden, have declined or expressed reservations about the board. Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy are noncommittal. There were 19 countries with him in Davos, but Hungary and Bulgaria were the only European countries by his side.

"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 said. "You know, I've always said the United Nations has got tremendous potential, has not used it, but there's tremendous potential in the United Nations."

On Jan. 7, Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from 66 international organizations, conventions and treaties deemed "contrary to the interests of the United States," and many of them were United Nations-related agencies that focus on climate, labor, migration and other issues the administration has claimed were catering to diversity.

The initial scope of the board was to focus on peace in the Middle East, but the administration has since signaled it will have wider impact.

The White House's list of members of the Board of Peace includes Belgium, but Maxime Prevot, deputy prime minister of Belgium, said on X Thursday that it wasn't true.

"Belgium has NOT signed the Charter of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect," his post said. "We wish for a common and coordinated European response. As many European countries, we have reservations to the proposal."

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been invited.

"Russia is our enemy. Belarus is their ally," The Washington Post reported Zelensky said Tuesday. "It is very difficult for me to imagine how we and Russia can be together in this or that council." Poland has expressed similar concerns.

This week in Washington

President Donald Trump holds a list of his accomplishments as he joins the White House press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on Tuesday. The day marked the one-year anniversary of Trump's second inauguration. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo