Trump's Vision for a 'Strongman's UN' - The Board of Peace

It also gives far-reaching powers to its chairman, who is not named as the president but as “Donald J Trump”, including the right to appoint members of the executive board, who serve at Trump’s pleasure. These include his close friend Steve Witkoff, son-in-law Jared Kushner and Sir Tony Blair, the former British prime minister. “Replacement of the chairman may occur only following voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity, as determined by a unanimous vote of the executive board,” the charter states. It is an indication that the 79-year-old president sees himself as a “peacemaker” for some time to come. The “unifier” part was always going to be more challenging for Trump, who presides over a divisive administration, but that is what he appears to have in mind for the membership of his Board of Peace — a forum that supplants other global institutions by inviting some of the world’s pariahs to join. Permanent membership costs $1 billion; there is no indication how the money will be spent or invested. Three-year membership, which would end once Trump’s second term is completed, is free. President Putin of Russia has been invited but he has hedged on whether he will take up a permanent or temporary role. Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator, said on Tuesday that he had joined, in a sign of his growing rapprochement with Washington. A video posted by the Belarusian government showed Lukashenko signing the board-of-peace document in front of a large map of the world. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994 and is Russia’s biggest ally in Europe, has released a number of political prisoners since last year, when he hosted Trump’s envoys for talks in Minsk. Was this a sign that Trump’s unique approach to peacemaking works? The $1 billion fee is not an issue for the oil-rich Gulf states that have become key Trump allies. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accepted invitations. Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, said he would join but had no intention of paying for the privilege. France and Norway have explicitly ruled out joining. It is beginning to look like another way, along with the Greenland debacle, in which Europe is distancing itself from Trump as he realigns America’s interests and preferred partners beyond traditional US allies. Despite his undisguised fury at President Macron’s rejection, threatening 200 per cent tariffs on wine to force France to join, this is part of a pattern from the Trump administration, as seen in the frequent attacks by JD Vance, the vice-president, on European culture, policy and regulation. • Phase two of the peace plan is a fantasy for freezing Gazans The Europeans also happen to be the countries with more complicated ratification procedures involving vibrant pluralistic democracies, rather than nations run by a strongman or wealthy family, which characterises most of the willing volunteers so far. Only one EU nation has confirmed membership: Hungary, run by Trump’s closest ally in Europe, Viktor Orban, who has a strong personal grip on that country’s governance structures. Would Sir Keir Starmer, even if he were to express his assent, be able to push the charter of the Board of Peace through parliamentary ratification given the prevailing atmosphere of suspicion and hostility towards Trump? European diplomats have privately reacted with astonishment and ridicule. “It reads like membership of an upscale golf club,” one said of the charter’s terms and conditions. Another said: “If interpreted at its boldest, it is like a Trump-led alternative to the UN.” But the United Nations set the board of peace in motion by endorsing it in UN Resolution 2803, which adopted Trump’s “comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict”. This sought to limit the scope of the board to a Gaza remit ending in 2027. The chairman appears to have other ideas.