Trump’s Board of Peace faces headwinds from allies as mandate appears broader than Gaza

President Donald Trump is expected to hold a formal signing ceremony to constitute his highly anticipated Gaza Board of Peace as early as Thursday while he attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, according to a copy of the invitation circulating online, as allies openly question if they will even join the board. 

ABC News has reached out to the White House. 

Trump announced on Friday the Gaza Board of Peace that would oversee the rebuilding and reconstruction of the devastated Gaza Strip. But the charter draft circulated online makes no direct mention of the region, leading to a muted, cautious reaction from government officials who believe Trump’s board may have loftier ambitions.

Trump, who is to chair the board, said in a post on Truth Social last week that it will be “the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place,” though details about it remain vague.

Several countries have said they received invitations to join the board in recent days, including Argentina, Belarus, Canada, Australia, Egypt, Hungary, Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Israel and India — though the countries’ respective leaders largely appear reluctant to make public statements of explicit endorsement.

The Kremlin on Monday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had also received an invitation.

“Moscow is studying all the details of the proposal and hopes to contact Washington to clarify all the nuances,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The U.S. is expected to announce its official list of members in the coming days.

A copy of the charter draft posted online by the Times of Israel seemingly signals that the Board of Peace may have a much broader mandate than was first publicized, with some officials speculating that Trump has more ambitious goals than solely rebuilding Gaza and is looking to instead build a U.S.-led alternative to the United Nations aimed at resolving conflicts globally.

According to the charter, the board “is an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”

The charter also asserts “the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body” and calls for “a coalition of willing States committed to practical cooperation and effective action.”

Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee issued a statement Sunday warning that the body proposed by Trump “would have a mandate wider than the implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan.”

“The United Nations has a unique mandate to maintain international peace and security, and the legitimacy to bring nations together to find common solutions to shared challenges. While it may be imperfect, the U.N. and the primacy of international law is more important now than ever,” she said in the statement.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Poland would require permission to join the international organization from its Council of Ministers and ratification by its lower chamber of the legislature. He warned “we will not let anyone play us” in a post on X.

Some European leaders are mulling not joining the board and risking Trump’s ire during an unstable period of escalated global conflict as the U.S. president continues to stoke tensions over the Danish territory of Greenland, and while western allies need continued U.S. support to control Russia as it pummels war-torn Ukraine during a brutally cold winter season.

The executive committee that would oversee the Board of Peace will include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The mandate of the Board of Peace which was approved in November by the United Nations Security Council is solely focused on Gaza and runs until the end of 2027.

The charter draft states that nations who accept the invitation will be given a three-year membership term, but permanent membership would be given to member states that contribute more than $1 billion in cash to the Board of Peace within the first year.

The Board of Peace would convene voting meetings at least once a year and the agenda would be subject to the chairman’s approval, according to the charter draft.

Decisions will be made by a majority vote, the draft says, with each member state receiving a single vote. But those decisions can be vetoed by the chairman, who has “the final authority regarding the meaning, interpretation, and application of this Charter.” This gives Trump as chairman considerable leeway over the charter’s decision making.

Additional members of the Board of Peace are expected to be announced over the coming weeks, according to the White House. U.S. officials said that additional announcements could come while the president was traveling in Davos this week.

The announcement of the Board of Peace and its executive committee come on the heels of the Trump administration’s launch of the second phase of the Gaza 20-point peace plan it says “begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza.”

U.S. officials said there will be “intense” planning ahead with the newly formed technocratic committee to get them ready to govern and work with Hamas to ensure safety and peace remain a priority in the Gaza region.