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US President Donald Trump inaugurated the "Peace Council" in Davos, which was originally intended to help end the devastating war in Gaza, but now appears to have a broader role that many fear will compete with or undermine the United Nations.
The US president, who will chair the board, has invited dozens of other world leaders to join and his aim is for the group to address other global challenges beyond Gaza, although he has no intention of replacing the United Nations, as he has stated.
"This is a very exciting day, a long time in the making," Trump said, taking the stage, his voice hoarse after his more than hour-long speech yesterday.
"Many countries just got their notice and they all want to be part of it. We will be working with many others, including the United Nations," the US President added.
He emphasized that we now have peace in the Middle East, adding that "we have resolved eight wars and I believe the end of another one is coming very soon."
"It's what I thought would be easy and it turned out to be probably the hardest," he says, referring to the war in Ukraine.
Trump also mentioned Tony Blair, who will not serve on the board but will be on the Peace Council's "Executive Board," which he said will implement the council's vision in Gaza.
"Thank you, Tony, for being here. We appreciate it," says the US president, while emphasizing that "today, the world is richer, safer, and much more peaceful than it was just a year ago."
"We put out all these fires that a lot of people didn't know about, including me," Trump said.
Who participates in the Council?
Some traditional US allies have been reluctant to join the board, which Trump says permanent members should help fund with a payment of $1 billion each.
Apart from the US, no other permanent member of the UN Security Council, the 5 nations with the greatest influence on international law and diplomacy since the end of World War II, has yet to pledge to join.
Russia said late Wednesday it was considering the proposal after Trump said it would join. France declined. Britain said Thursday it would not join for now. China has not yet said whether it will join.
The creation of the council was approved by a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of Trump's peace plan for Gaza, and UN spokesman Rolando Gomez said on Thursday that UN cooperation with the council would only take place within that framework.
About 35 countries have pledged to participate, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey and Belarus.
According to the Associated Press, the list of countries that have accepted the invitation to join the board includes: Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Albania and Vietnam.
And the countries that will not participate, at least for now, are: France, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Other countries have also been invited, but have not committed to any of them: Cambodia, China, Croatia, Germany, India, Italy, the EU executive, Paraguay, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and Ukraine.
Here comes Trump's Board of Peace pic.twitter.com/AV4nCWiETE
— Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) January 22, 2026
The goal is to promote peace throughout the world.
The council's charter gives it the mission of promoting peace around the world, according to a copy seen by Reuters, and Trump has already appointed other senior US officials to join it, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The ceasefire in Gaza, reached in October, has been in tatters for months, with Israel and Hamas trading accusations over repeated outbreaks of violence that have killed several Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians. Both sides have accused each other of further violations, with Israel saying Hamas has delayed the return of the last body of a dead hostage and Hamas saying Israel has continued to restrict aid to Gaza despite the ongoing humanitarian disaster. Each side denies the other’s accusations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted Trump's invitation to join the board, the Israeli leader's office said. Palestinian factions have backed Trump's plan and have given their support to a transitional Palestinian committee that aims to run the Gaza Strip under the board's supervision.
Trump has been bold in his comments on Gaza, saying the ceasefire amounts to "peace in the Middle East."
Although the first phase of the ceasefire is dragging on, the next phase must address much more difficult long-term issues that have plagued previous negotiations, including the disarmament of Hamas, security control in Gaza and Israel's eventual withdrawal.
Yesterday in Davos, Trump met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country played a major role in the Gaza ceasefire talks, and they discussed the board.
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