(AFP) – US President Donald Trump is set to formally announce the first charter of his so-called “Board of Peace,” a body for resolving international conflicts with a $1-billion price tag for permanent membership. The board, which Trump will launch with what has been billed as a signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza. But a draft of the charter seen by AFP does not appear to limit its role to the Palestinian territory.
– What will it do? – The Board of Peace will be chaired by Trump, according to its founding charter sent to countries invited to participate. It 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,” reads its preamble. It will “undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law,” it adds.
– Who will run it? – Trump will be chairman but also “separately serve” as representative of the United States. “The chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfill the Board of Peace’s mission,” the document states. He will pick members of an executive board to be “leaders of global stature” to “serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the chairman.” The charter says the chairman can be replaced only in case of “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity.” A US official confirmed that Trump could keep the chairmanship, even after leaving the White House, “until he resigns it,” although a future US president can appoint a different US representative.
– Who can be a member? – Member states must be invited by the US president and will be represented by their head of state or government. Each member “shall serve a term of no more than three years,” the charter says. But “the three-year membership term shall not apply to member states that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the charter’s entry into force,” it adds. The US official said that membership itself “does not carry any mandatory funding obligation beyond whatever a state or partner chooses to contribute voluntarily.” The board will convene annual meetings with decisions by a majority vote, with the chairman breaking any tie.
– Who’s on the executive board? – The executive board will be chaired by Trump and include seven members:
– US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
– Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special negotiator
– Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law
– Tony Blair, former UK prime minister
– Marc Rowan, billionaire US financier
– Ajay Banga, World Bank president
– Robert Gabriel, loyal Trump aide on the National Security Council
– Which countries are invited? – Some 35 world leaders out of 50 or so invited have agreed to join the board so far, a senior White House official told reporters Wednesday. Dozens of countries and leaders have said they have received an invitation, including close US allies but also adversaries. China has been invited, but a foreign ministry spokesman said Wednesday Beijing would defend the international system with the United Nations “at its core.” Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been invited, despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. A number of governments immediately said they would join. Several Trump allies are in, including Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban — who said he was headed to Davos to attend the ceremony, according to a pro-government media outlet Wednesday — Argentine President Javier Milei and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Azerbaijan’s autocratic President Ilham Aliyev will also have a spot. And Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said he, too, would attend Thursday’s ceremony. The United Arab Emirates, a close US partner, also said it would join, as did Egypt. Canada said it would take part but explicitly ruled out paying the $1-billion fee for permanent membership.
– Who won’t be involved? – Longtime US ally France has indicated it will not join. The response sparked an immediate threat from Trump to slap sky-high tariffs on French wine. Zelensky said it would be “very hard” to be a member of a council alongside Russia, and diplomats were “working on it.” Britain echoed the sentiment, saying it was “concerned” that Putin had been invited. “Putin is the aggressor in an illegal war against Ukraine, and he has shown time and time again he is not serious about peace,” said a Downing Street spokesperson. Norway, which has become the target of Trump’s ire after he was snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize, has also said it will not join and that the proposal “raises a number of questions.” The charter says the board enters into force “upon expression of consent to be bound by three States.”
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