President Donald Trump has extended invitations to approximately 60 countries to join his “Board of Peace,” an initiative aimed at resolving the conflict in Gaza but set to expand into other conflicts.
The full list of invitees to be founding members hasn’t been released yet as of Monday, but several have confirmed they received one. Trump is set to be the board’s chairman, and the executive board has already been chosen.
The Executive Board of the Board of Peace is composed of individuals from around the world, most of whom aren’t government officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and adviser Jared Kushner all have spots on the board, comprising the Trump administration’s contingent. Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, and deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel Jr. are also slated to serve on the board.
Serving as the high representative for Gaza will be former Bulgarian Defense Minister Nickolay Mladenov, a role in which he will “act as the on-the-ground link between the Board of Peace and the [National Committee for the Administration of Gaza]. He will support the Board’s oversight of all aspects of Gaza’s governance, reconstruction, and development, while ensuring coordination across civilian and security pillars,” according to the White House.
The overall role of the executive board will be to “oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza’s stabilization and long-term success, including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization.”
Positive responses
Of the 60 invited, five world leaders had confirmed their acceptance of the invitation as of Monday.
The most enthusiastic “yes” came from one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
With Trump, Orbán said in a post on X, “Comes peace. Another letter has arrived. Hungary’s efforts for peace are being recognised.”
“President Trump has invited Hungary to join the work of The Board of Peace as a founding member. We have, of course, accepted this honourable invitation,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates also confirmed that it accepted the U.S.’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, saying President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is committed to Trump’s 20-point plan in Gaza and “reaffirmed” his confidence in Trump’s leadership.
Trump’s closest ally in Latin America, Argentine President Javier Milei, called the invitation an “honor” and accepted.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has liberally praised Trump, publicly accepted the invitation. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama appeared to confirm he would accept, but didn’t explicitly say as much in his glowing statement on Facebook thanking Trump for the invitation.
Rama posted a picture of the letter, saying he received it “with honor and pleasure,” then thanked Trump “for the privilege of faith you have given me” and said he would “do until the end everything necessary to glorify the name of Albania and the dignity of the Albanians.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña was similarly thrilled to receive the invitation, saying he would accept, but not as a permanent member, which requires a $1 billion payment. He said he expected Trump to be understanding of this, given Paraguay’s economic reality.
The general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Tô Lâm, accepted Trump’s invitation, as confirmed by Vietnam’s foreign ministry.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited, but his reception was initially largely negative. He and other members of his Cabinet complained that the development of the board wasn’t coordinated with Israel and took issue with the subgroup that would take over governance of the Gaza Strip, arguing that it wasn’t in line with Israel’s policy.
Despite these complaints, he formally accepted the offer on Wednesday.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani also announced on Wednesday that they would be accepting the offer.
A few leaders were positive but ambiguous. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he agreed with the invitation in principle but was hesitant to accept due to the $1 billion fee to become a founding member. The fee is supposed to go toward peacebuilding in Gaza.
Negative responses
Several criticisms have been directed toward the board, fearing it will be too Trump-centric, that it could usurp the United Nations, or that its scope is becoming too broad.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded in the most direct negative way, saying he needed parliamentary approval and suspects the United States may be trying to “play” his country.
“Poland’s accession to an international organization requires the consent of the Council of Ministers and ratification by the Sejm. The government will be guided solely by the interest and security of the Polish state. And we will not let anyone play us,” he said in a post on X.
France has also emerged skeptical, sending a strong signal that it wouldn’t approve the measure.
“France was invited to join the Board of Peace and is examining the proposed legal framework with its partners. At this stage, it does not intend to give a favorable response. The Charter goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza. It raises major questions, in particular regarding respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations, which cannot under any circumstances be called into question,” a senior French official told Axios.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at Davos on Wednesday that Sweden wouldn’t accept the offer as the text currently stands, according to the TT Swedish news agency.
Norwegian State Secretary Kristoffer Thoner said Norway wouldn’t attend the signing ceremony in Davos, and wouldn’t join the board as it “raises a number of questions that requires further dialogue with the United States.”
Other invitees
Of the nearly 60 world leaders invited, several stuck out as particularly notable. The Kremlin confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had received an invitation and that the offer would be reviewed.
“President Putin has indeed received an offer through diplomatic channels to join this Board of Peace. We are currently studying all the details of this proposal,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. “We hope to contact the U.S. side to clarify all the details.”
The invitation of Putin to the Board of Peace drew criticism due to his invasion of Ukraine, particularly if Trump’s goal is for the board to expand beyond settling the war in Gaza.
In a similar vein, the leaders of India and Pakistan were invited, setting up trouble if the board ever moves to try to solve the conflict between the nations, which flared up last year.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko received an invitation, another move that was criticized due to his questionable human rights record. Washington has been easing pressure on Minsk over the past year, despite Minsk’s long-standing diplomatic isolation, likely hoping to reduce its reliance on Russia.
The Vatican confirmed that Pope Leo XIV was invited to the board by Trump, adding that he was “considering what to do.”
“I believe it will be something that requires a bit of time for consideration before giving a response,” Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in a statement. He’s regularly called for a peaceful solution to the war in Gaza.
TRUMP INVITED PUTIN TO JOIN GAZA ‘BOARD OF PEACE’: KREMLIN
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received an invitation, a move set to draw outrage from Israel due to the former’s hostility toward the latter.
Other countries invited to be founding members of the Board of Peace include Jordan, Italy, Egypt, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Brazil.
