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President Donald Trump was joined by a small number of world leaders Thursday as he signed the charter of his “Board of Peace,” a new body he has billed as part of the solution to a series of global conflicts.
Major Western allies chose to skip the ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with some voicing concerns that the body, which Trump plans to chair personally, could replace the United Nations.
Trump, who has derided the U.N. for “empty words” that “don’t solve war,” said Thursday that the two bodies will work alongside each other, after having suggested earlier in the week that the board “might” replace it.
With many allies absent, Trump was flanked at the event by leaders and representatives from Argentina, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Qatar, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Paraguay and Pakistan.
Russia and China said they have received invitations to the body but have not yet confirmed whether they will join. Israel has backed the body; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, did not attend the Davos summit.
One country who will seemingly not be joining is Canada, after a war of words between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump.
In a message addressed to Carney on Truth Social late Thursday, Trump announced “the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time.”
Trump first proposed the Board of Peace as an entity that would oversee the next phase of his peace plan for the Gaza Strip, but it has since morphed into something with a much broader remit.
In November, the U.N. Security Council approved a Board of Peace as part of a broader plan that included establishing a security force in Gaza.
The current charter for the board, as confirmed by NBC News, makes no direct mention of Gaza and proposes a broad mandate for a new international organization that “seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”
The charter says Trump will chair the board and can be replaced as chairman only through “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity, as determined by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board.”
It also says each member state “shall serve a term of no more than three years,” with exceptions for those “that contribute more than” $1 billion.
The White House Rapid Response account on X said that was not a “minimum membership fee to join the Board of Peace.” It said the $1 billion contribution “simply offers permanent membership to partner countries who demonstrate deep commitment to peace, security, and prosperity.”
The White House has said a “founding Executive Board” will include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and World Bank President Ajay Banga.
More than 20 countries have said they will join the board. They include Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
It is not known whether any have agreed to donate $1 billion for permanent membership.
Signaling broad ambitions Thursday, Trump said his Board of Peace “has the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created,” adding that it was an “enormous honor” to serve as its chairman.
Trump said his board would work alongside the U.N., which he said has “got tremendous potential.” The two bodies together “can be something very, very unique for the world,” he said.
Rubio thanked the world leaders present and expressed hope that those who might have reservations will ultimately join.
“Others will join,” he said. “Many want to be a part of this effort, because it is going to be a successful effort.”
Rubio said the body would be about “action” and not just “strongly worded statements” the world is used to from global leaders.
“We often find ourselves at events where people are reading these scripted statements, these strongly worded letters that they put out, but no action. Nothing happens,” he said.
The U.K., France, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia are among the countries to indicate they would not immediately be joining the body.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said this week that the board’s charter “goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza and raises serious questions, in particular with respect to the principles and structure of the United Nations, which cannot be called into question.”
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper cited concerns over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s possible participation.
In an interview with the BBC on Thursday morning, she said, “We won’t be one of the signatories today because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we are still not seeing any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine.”
Also not among the countries signing the charter on Thursday was Belgium, which corrected a list released by the White House to the media of the 20 or so nations that it said signed joined the ceremony in Davos.
“Belgium has NOT signed the Charter of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect,” Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prévot said on X.
Laurens Soenen, a spokesperson for Prévot, said that “Belgium has at no point had any intention of signing the charter.”
“We have informed our American discussion partners of the reasons why we could not sign the charter in its current form,” Soenen said.
A source familiar with the matter had previously told NBC News that Belgium originally signed on to joining the Board, but backed out at the last minute. Soenen denied this.
Abigail Williams is a producer and reporter for NBC News covering the State Department.
Yuliya Talmazan is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based in London.
Nick Duffy is a weekend and world editor for NBC News.
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