As U.S. President Donald Trump rattles America’s Western allies with threats to seize Greenland, a move that, if carried out by force, could fracture NATO, he is simultaneously attempting another dramatic disruption of the global order.
The “Board of Peace,” originally conceived as part of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, has been dramatically expanded. Trump now openly acknowledges that the body could serve as a substitute for the United Nations, the international organization founded after World War II to unite the world’s nations.
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Does Trump want to replace the UN Security Council?
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Speaking at a White House news conference, Trump said the Board of Peace, to which he has invited dozens of world leaders, “might” replace the United Nations. “The U.N. just doesn’t help very much,” Trump said. “I’m a big fan of the potential of the United Nations, but it never lived up to that potential.”
Trump, who has repeatedly attacked the U.N., including in a speech to the General Assembly last September, added that the organization “should have solved every war that I solved,” repeating his frequent claim that he ended “eight wars or more.” He again complained that despite this record, he was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, noting this week that since he never received it, he is “no longer obligated to think only about peace.”
From Gaza plan to global ambition
The Board of Peace was initially crafted as part of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and oversee the second phase of the proposal, including reconstruction of the Strip and the disarmament of Hamas. In recent days, however, Trump has signaled that he intends to expand the body’s mandate to address conflicts worldwide.
“I think it starts with Gaza, and then we’ll handle other conflicts as they come up,” Trump said over the weekend. A draft of the Board of Peace charter, circulated in international media in recent days, makes no mention of Gaza at all. Instead, it defines the organization as a global peace-building body.
The draft charter criticizes existing international institutions in unusually blunt language, stating that “durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common-sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.” It calls for a “more nimble and effective international peace-building body,” a clear rebuke of the United Nations.
According to the charter, the Board of Peace aims to “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace” in areas affected by conflict, while developing best practices that could be applied globally.
Trump as chairman for life
Under the proposed charter, Trump would serve as chairman of the Board of Peace. While the document does not explicitly use the phrase “chairman for life,” CNN and Reuters reported that Trump would remain in the role even after leaving the presidency.
The chairman would wield extraordinary authority. Only Trump would be empowered to invite states to join the board, remove members and determine the frequency of meetings. He would also hold tie-breaking voting power and the authority to create or dissolve subsidiary bodies at will.
Trump could be removed only if he voluntarily resigns or is declared unfit by a unanimous vote of the board’s executive committee. He would also designate his own successor.
Membership, money and vetoes
Membership would be limited to heads of state or government personally invited by Trump. States would serve three-year terms, renewable at the chairman’s discretion.
However, the charter includes a striking financial clause: Any state that contributes more than $1 billion in cash during the first year would receive permanent membership. An American official stressed that the money would not be an “entry fee,” saying it would be used to fund peace-building efforts, including Gaza reconstruction. Critics, however, have likened the model to a pay-to-play system.
The chairman alone would effectively hold veto power, unlike the U.N. Security Council, where five permanent members share that authority.
Who has joined and who has balked
Invitations have been sent to roughly 60 world leaders, from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Russian President Vladimir Putin. So far, Israel, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Argentina, Belarus and Kosovo have publicly accepted.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey would also join, represented by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said 20 to 25 leaders have already agreed to participate. A signing ceremony for the charter is expected to take place at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump is scheduled to speak.
Putin has not yet accepted, with the Kremlin saying it is “reviewing the details.” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed alarm at the prospect of sitting on the same body as Russia.
“Honestly, Russia is our enemy,” Zelensky said. “Belarus is its ally. It’s very hard for me to imagine how we could be together with Russia on the same council. Russia is a council of war.”
China has also been invited but has not yet responded.
European resistance and legal concerns
Several U.S. allies have already rejected the proposal. France, Norway and Sweden have formally declined, and Italian media reported that Rome is also leaning toward refusal, citing constitutional concerns about joining a body where authority is concentrated in one leader’s hands.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France supports Trump’s Gaza peace plan but opposes “the creation of an organization that would replace the United Nations.” Trump responded dismissively, saying French President Emmanuel Macron “won’t be around much longer anyway.”
Trump has also threatened steep tariffs on European countries that oppose him, including duties of up to 200 percent on French wine and champagne.
Ireland’s foreign minister warned that while the U.N. is imperfect, it has unique legitimacy and global reach, especially at a time when international law is under strain.
Can it really replace the U.N.?
Analysts question whether the Board of Peace could realistically supplant the United Nations. Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. negotiator in Israeli-Palestinian talks, called the idea “from a very distant galaxy, with no connection to reality.”
“You don’t solve conflicts through external organizations,” Miller told CNN. “You do it through mediators working directly with the parties.” He added that competing with the U.N. is nearly impossible because it is “too big, too resilient and too deeply embedded.”
Miller said the board’s credibility would ultimately be judged by its performance in Gaza. He also expressed disbelief that democratic states would agree to surrender veto power to Trump or pay $1 billion for extended membership, though CNN reported that some countries are indeed considering it.
As Trump pushes forward with his most ambitious foreign policy experiment yet, allies and adversaries alike are left weighing whether the Board of Peace represents a bold reinvention of global diplomacy or a unilateral bid to rewrite the rules of the international system with Washington, and Trump himself, firmly in control.