President Trump’s “Board of Peace” features plenty of nations with records of human rights abuses and government corruption, and now it’s racking up a whole lot of cash. Trump — who has profited immensely off the presidency — announced on Thursday that he would be transferring $10 billion in taxpayer funds to the board, where nations like Israel, El Salvador, Turkey, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, and Saudi Arabia will theoretically use it to effectuate peace in the Middle East … or something.
On paper, the “Board of Peace” will oversee the implementation of a Gaza peace plan. The president has made clear through social media posts and public comments that he would like to see Gaza — where untold numbers of bodies lay buried beneath the wreckage of cities reduced to rubble — redeveloped as a “Trump Riviera,” as he put it last year, of the Middle East. This year at Davos, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who holds no actual government position, presented plans to reshape the war-torn region into a coastal tourism destination ripe for international investment — and profit.
Trump has charged member states a hefty fee of $1 billion dollars to secure a place on the board, but it’s unclear what that money will actually fund. What is obvious is that Trump, a longtime critic of the United Nations, is looking to create his own international coalition of nations that operate directly under his control. Russian President Vladimir Putin was invited to join, despite actively waging a catastrophic expansionist war against Ukraine. Several prominent American allies and Western nations have declined to entertain the farce. The Vatican rejected an invitation earlier this week. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Ukraine, and several other nations have outright declined to join, while scores of others have seemingly pretended their invite got lost in the mail.
The dissonance was on full display at the first official “Board of Peace” gathering on Thursday in Washington, D.C., where — in the absence of America’s historic allies — sycophantic world leaders lavished praise on the American president for convening this “peace” coalition, which Trump exercises full control over.
To a soundtrack featuring Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” and Laura Branigan’s “Gloria,” the president posed for photos and touted financial commitments from participating nations. The meeting closed with the president banging a golden gavel before his personal anthem, “Y.M.C.A.,” blasted over the venue’s speakers.
Kushner was there too, insisting that “people are not personally profiting from this.” Nevertheless, concerns have already been raised that the president controlling the board as chairman in essential perpetuity — without term limits or other restrictions — means he will have access to the finances of the organization beyond the control and oversight of the U.S. government. Trump did not specify where exactly the $10 billion in pledged American funds would come from, and there’s no indication that Congress has authorized the spending.
“When you look at that compared to the cost of war, that’s two weeks of fighting, it’s a very small number. It sounds like a lot, but it’s a very small number,” the president said. Outside of the $1 billion dollar fee to join the board from member nations, the president noted that $7 billion additional dollars had been contributed by the group’s members.
Trump used the “peace” meeting to announce that he would be making a decision regarding military action against Iran within the next “10 days.” In recent weeks, the U.S. military has built up a massive military presence in the Middle East as they attempt to finalize a nuclear agreement with the nation. It wouldn’t seem one would be necessary given that Trump claimed last year that the strike he ordered on Iran “obliterated” their nuclear facilities, but alas.
The potential of renewed warfare in the region cast no pall over Trump’s “peace” event. The prime minister of Egypt referred to Trump as his “excellency,” a breach of typical protocol for U.S. presidents, who have historically refused titles and monikers associated with monarchical nobility. Kazakhstan’s repressive President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev suggested that the committee “establish a special President Trump award of the Board of Peace to recognize his outstanding efforts and achievements.” No surprises there, given Trump’s known fixation on receiving shiny objects in recognition of his greatness. In that vein, for some reason that was not abundantly clear to anyone there, FIFA President Gianni Infantino was present at the event, sporting a red “USA” hat.
Even as world leaders leaned into their designated gushing time, Trump seemed unwilling, or unable, to grant them his full attention. Throughout the more than two hour meeting, the president repeatedly seemed to doze off at his seat as other heads of state and dignitaries addressed him.Trump Is Hijacking Billions in Taxpayer Money for His Made-Up ‘Peace’ Group
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
