Singapore Invited to Trump's Board of Peace: MFA Confirms Assessment

AUSTIN – Singapore has been invited to join the US-led “Board of Peace” proposed by the Trump administration to supervise the next phase of the Gaza peace plan. “The Singapore Government has received an invitation from the US to join the Board of Peace and is currently assessing the invitation,” the Singapore Foreign Ministry told The Straits Times on Jan 20. Invitation letters were sent by the White House over the past few days to dozens of nations to join the proposed board, which was initially meant to oversee reconstruction in Gaza but has since assumed the larger role of “resolving global conflict”. While Russia is included, China does not figure on the lists of invitees being circulated. In the invitation, a copy of which was shared by Argentinian President Javier Milei, President Donald Trump offers an opportunity to join a “historic and magnificent effort to solidify peace in the Middle East, and at the same time, to embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict”. This expanded role for the Board of Peace could well signal the US President’s ambition to rival the United Nations Security Council, which had passed a resolution to back its formation. The board, which will be chaired by Mr Trump, is expected to hold its first meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. The official list of members and the charter laying out the scope of the board are expected to be released in the coming days. Mr Trump first mentioned the board in September 2025 as part of a 20-point peace plan to end Israel’s two-year war in Gaza. After a fragile ceasefire was reached in the following month, the UN Security Council Resolution gave its endorsement on Nov 17, 2025. Singapore had not asked to be part of the board. “We are not campaigning to be on the Board of Peace,” Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Oct 15, 2025 when asked in Parliament if Singapore would seek a seat. “We are Singaporeans. Our approach is always to do more, say less, be quietly helpful and constructive, work from the ground up,” he said. “So that’s why we’re not asking to sit on any boards, but we will step up our longstanding cooperation with the Palestinian Authority,” Dr Balakrishnan added. Unofficial versions of the board’s charter, which are circulating widely across international media, make no mention of Gaza although the UN mandate for the board is limited to Gaza and lasts only until the end of 2027. “The Board of Peace 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,” says the draft charter which was attached with the invitation letters. Beyond the standard three-year term on the board that is specified in the charter, indefinite membership is also being offered for a fee of US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) within the first year. The funds are to be ploughed into reconstruction of Gaza. “Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman,” the charter says. “The three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than US$1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.” Invitations have reportedly been extended to 60 nations, including Britain, France, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Among those from Asia are: Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia and Thailand. US rival China is conspicuously absent from the lists circulating so far. Vietnam, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Argentina have confirmed their intention to join the board while most nations remain cautious. Israel, which has objected to the board as a “raw deal”, has been invited but has not yet accepted the offer. France does not plan to join the board “at this stage” while the Kremlin is “studying the details”, the countries’ officials said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “talking to allies” about it while European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen plans to discuss the board with other EU leaders. Without signaling intention to join, a spokesperson said the commission wants “to contribute to a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict.” The expanded role for the board has stirred comment that Mr Trump may be aiming to build a US-led alternative to the UN. Mr Trump, a strident UN critic, announced on Jan 7 that he was pulling the US out of 31 UN agencies and bodies while describing their operations as “contrary to US national interests.” The preamble to the charter laments that “too many approaches to peace-building foster perpetual dependency, and institutionalise crisis rather than leading people beyond it.” It emphasises the need for a “more nimble and effective international peace-building body” and resolves to “assemble a coalition of willing States committed to practical cooperation and effective action.” An executive committee of the board to run day to day affairs in Gaza includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff alongside businessmen like Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan. It also features former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Ajay Banga, the president of the World Bank.