Is Trump’s Board of Peace Meant to Undermine the UN?

Judging by the mixed signals coming out of the White House, questions are growing over whether the Board of Peace, a creation of US President Donald Trump, is ultimately aimed at sidelining the UN Security Council—or even the United Nations itself.

At a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Trump formally ratified the Board’s charter, establishing it as “an official international organisation”.

Trump, who will serve as the Board’s chairman, was joined by founding members “representing countries around the world who have committed to building a secure and prosperous future for Gaza that delivers lasting peace, stability and opportunity for its people”.

Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and national director of RootsAction.org, said Trump’s “Board of Peace” appears designed as a global alliance similar to the so-called “coalition of the willing” that sought to legitimise the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

According to Solomon, Trump is recruiting compliant governments to align with his leadership, pushing the world further towards domination-driven conflict. He said the cost for members of what he called the Orwellian-named “Board of Peace” goes far beyond the reported membership fee of more than $1 billion each.

“In a global gangster mode, Trump is putting structures in place based on imperial whim,” Solomon said, adding that the methods behind the project are transparent in their aim to create new mechanisms for US dominance.

He said Trump continues to push the boundaries of doublespeak used to mask US efforts to gain economic and military leverage. “The message is essentially: no more Mr Nice Guy,” Solomon argued.

Unlike previous administrations that relied on euphemisms and lofty rhetoric, Trump has stripped away much of the diplomatic language, making it clear that he views the United States as the guiding force others should follow, said Solomon, author of War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine.

Asked about the Board of Peace, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the UN remains committed to implementing Security Council Resolution 2803, which welcomed the creation of the board for Gaza.

He said the resolution envisaged the UN leading humanitarian aid delivery and noted that a significant volume of assistance has entered Gaza, particularly since the ceasefire. Dujarric added that the UN has worked closely with US authorities and will continue to do so.

Reaffirming the UN’s role, Dujarric said it remains the only international organisation with universal membership. He added that the Secretary-General’s work continues under the UN Charter and international law.

Asked about similarities between the UN logo and that of the Board of Peace, Dujarric said he saw no copyright or trademark infringement.

In a separate statement, Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch, said the United States had once played a leading role in establishing the UN but is now undermining and defunding large parts of it.

Over the past year, he said, the US government has slashed funding for UN programmes and agencies, viewing the institution as “anti-American” and pursuing what it calls a hostile agenda.

Charbonneau said US officials have attempted to remove terms such as “gender”, “climate” and “diversity” from UN resolutions and have aggressively opposed human rights language they consider politically driven.

He argued that Trump’s proposed Board of Peace appears to be an attempt to sideline the UN Security Council. Trump has reportedly offered board seats to leaders of several governments with poor human rights records.

Originally, the board was intended to oversee Gaza’s administration following more than two years of devastation. However, its charter does not mention Gaza, suggesting a far broader ambition.

The proposed charter also makes no reference to human rights and grants the chairman authority to adopt resolutions or directives at his discretion.

Membership reportedly carries a $1 billion fee. Some leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, are said to have declined invitations. Trump has since threatened higher tariffs on French wine and champagne.

Charbonneau said the UN system has flaws but remains preferable to what he described as a “global politburo”. Governments, he argued, should focus on strengthening the UN rather than paying billions to join a parallel structure.

Solomon described the Board of Peace as a dangerous farce aimed at reviving a unipolar world order that has already weakened economically. He said US foreign policy increasingly relies on coercion, backed by military power, with little regard for international law.

He added that US presidents in this century have consistently sidelined international law in favour of military-industrial interests, with Trump taking this approach to an unprecedented extreme.

Solomon also recalled Indonesia’s short-lived withdrawal from the UN under President Sukarno, noting that the organisation suffered no lasting damage and Indonesia later rejoined.

In a further clarification, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said the Board of Peace has been authorised by the Security Council strictly for work related to Gaza.

“We are not talking about wider operations,” Haq said, adding that the UN will continue to work with all parties to uphold the Gaza ceasefire.

Any broader role for the board, he said, is for potential participants to consider. The UN, he stressed, has its own charter and has long coexisted with various international and regional organisations.

“We would need to see what the Board of Peace actually becomes to determine what kind of relationship we would have with it,” Haq said.