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US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that his newly created Board of Peace “might” replace the United Nations is deepening concerns among diplomats that the body meant to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza could instead be used to sideline the global organization established nearly eight decades ago to maintain international peace.
Even before Trump’s remarks, diplomats had raised questions about the board’s structure, its potential membership, and the controversial provision allowing countries to buy permanent seats for $1 billion.
The concerns come as Trump travels to the World Economic Forum in Davos and faces growing frustration from NATO allies over his insistence that the United States should own Greenland.
The White House announced a founding Executive Board that includes Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. According to a draft charter obtained by CNN, Trump will serve as the board’s chairman indefinitely, with removal possible only through voluntary resignation or incapacity determined by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board. A future US president may appoint an additional US representative to the board, a US official said.
Trump has sent invitations to dozens of countries and is expected to host a signing ceremony in Davos. While some nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have confirmed participation, others have not committed, and some, such as France, have declined.
Russia is among the countries invited, raising alarm over the inclusion of a nation actively engaged in war. China and Belarus have also received invitations.
“Putin would certainly use Russia’s membership on the Board of Peace to undermine the UN and, by extension, sow further divisions in America’s alliances,” said Robert Wood, a former deputy US ambassador to the United Nations.
“Putin is not a man of peace, and I don’t think he belongs in any organization with peace in the name,” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
Officials say the board’s broad charter appears to go far beyond Gaza and does not even reference the territory directly. The document describes the Board of Peace as “an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”
Trump appeared to confirm suspicions about the board’s broader ambition when he criticized the UN during a White House briefing.
“The UN just hasn’t been very helpful. I’m a big fan of the UN’s potential, but it has never lived up to its potential,” Trump said. “The UN should have settled every one of the wars that I settled. I never went to them, I never even thought to go to.”
France cited concerns that the board would create a parallel system to the UN when explaining its decision not to join.
“When you read the charter, it doesn’t only apply to Gaza, whereas the resolution that we had voted [on] at the Security Council of the United Nations was really targeting Gaza and the Middle East,” a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. “Point two is that it raises very important concern regarding the rationality with the charter of the United Nations.”
Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said her country would give the invitation “careful consideration” but warned that the proposed body would have a mandate broader than the implementation of a 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,” she said. “While it may be imperfect, the UN and the primacy of international law is more important now than ever.”
The UN’s top humanitarian official, Tom Fletcher, said the Board of Peace would not replace the United Nations.
Former US Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller expressed skepticism about the board’s viability.
“The whole thing is tethered to a galaxy far, far away, not to the realities back here on planet Earth,” he said. “I just don’t see how you instrumentalize it.”
Miller argued that even with the UN’s flaws, it cannot realistically be replaced.
“You can’t rival this organization,” he said. “It’s too big, it’s too durable, and it’s too integral to so many different pieces of the international landscape.”
Wood said any attempt to supplant the UN would face strong resistance.
“Whether the Board of Peace has any future internationally as a conflict-resolution mechanism will depend on what it can accomplish in Gaza,” he said.
Under the board’s rules, members serve three-year terms, but countries seeking permanent seats must pledge $1 billion. US officials insist the contribution is not an entry fee and say the funds would be directed toward rebuilding Gaza. However, rebuilding plans remain preliminary, according to sources familiar with early discussions.
“Not every country that has the ability to fork out $1 billion is necessarily best-suited to oversee peace and security in the international arena,” Wood said.
