US President Donald Trump signed the charter of his ‘Board of Peace,’ with other founding members in Davos on Thursday, as he told the audience ‘we can do pretty much whatever we want to do’.
The signing kicked off with representatives from Bahrain and Morocco followed by Trump allies such as Argentina’s Javier Milei and Hungary‘s Viktor Orban as well as Qatar‘s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
Amongst the other leaders present were Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan‘s Prime Minister, Santiago Pena, President of Paraguay, Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, Saudi Arabia‘s Foreign Minister, and Vjosa Osmani, Kosovo’s President.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum, the US President said: ‘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.’
In his speech, Trump boasted about his peacemaking record as he claimed to have ended eight wars across the world, adding he was close to resolving another in reference to Russia and Ukraine.
He told the crowd: ‘Today, the world is richer, safer and much more peaceful than it was just one year ago. We put out all those fires a lot of people didn’t know, including me.’
Originally intended to help end the devastating Gaza war, the President now sees the board as having a wider role that Europe and some others fear will rival or undermine the United Nations.
Trump has claimed ‘every country’ wants to join his Board of Peace despite notable snubs by US allies including the UK, France and Canada.
Speaking on stage at Davos, Trump said: ‘Every country, just about every country, wants to be a part of it. And we just sent out the letters a couple of days ago, and these are just the countries that are here. They happen to be in Davos.’
US President Donald Trump signed the charter of his ‘Board of Peace,’
Argentina’s Javier Milei and Hungary’s Viktor Orban were amongst the signatories
The UK today confirmed it would not be taking part in the ceremony after an invite was extended to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Of the leaders who were on stage, Trump said: ‘Every one of them is a friend of mine… I like every single one of them. Can you believe it? Usually I have about two or three that I don’t like.’
Tony Blair turned up for the launch today despite a snub from the UK government.
The former PM was namechecked by the US president at the ceremony in Davos, where he hailed the level of interest in participating.
‘Thank you, Tony, for being here. We appreciate it,’ the US president said.
Sir Tony is an executive member of the board alongside Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
He also condemned Spain following the country’s resistance to increasing military spending like other members of the NATO alliance.
Trump noted how he had secured commitments from ‘virtually’ all of NATO to increase spending to 5 percent of each country’s GDP.
‘Everybody but Spain,’ he complained. ‘I don’t know what’s happening with Spain. Why would they not do that? They want a free ride, I guess.’
Tony Blair embraces Jared Kushner ahead of the signing ceremony
Trump noted how he had secured commitments from ‘virtually’ all of NATO
During his speech, Trump claimed the war in Gaza is ‘coming to an end’ and now consisted of ‘little fires’.
He said that there was a commitment to ensure Gaza was demilitarised and ‘beautifully rebuilt’.
The US President was instrumental in a ceasefire which resulted in the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners last year.
He also suggested that fresh talks with the Iranian regime could be on the table.
‘Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk,’ he said.
His comments come as Trump seemed poised to intervene militarily on behalf of Iran’s anti-regime protesters in recent weeks, though he backed off after receiving concessions from the Islamic regime that they would stop killing demonstrators.
A plan for the reconstruction of Gaza shown on screen at the Board of Peace ceremony
Trump said that there was a commitment to ensure Gaza was demilitarised and ‘beautifully rebuilt’
