US President Donald Trump’s Davos visit for the World Economic Forum has turned out to be a disaster. After he was forced to climb down on his Greenland demand as a result of unified opposition presented by European nations, his ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza has also proved to be a flop. Trump had invited around 60 nations to join the board, but most major nations chose to stay away from it, and only one-third of the invited nations agreed to be on the board to be led by Trump himself.
The new body, intended to mediate global conflicts starting with a Gaza ceasefire, debuted with just 19 initial members, apart from the USA, far short of the ambitious vision Trump promoted, while key global players, including India, China, France, Russia, and the European Union, abstained.
The ‘Board of Peace’ was launched by Donald Trump in Davos during the 2026 World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday morning. Trump had invited a long list of countries from all the continents to join the board, but the majority of the nations have declined the invitation. At the launch ceremony, only 20 nations, including the USA, were present. While the invitation was sent to 60 nations, White House officials had said that 35 of them would join. But the actual number was much less.
Significantly, none of the Western European nations joined the board, signalling their distance from Trump over Greenland. As per reports, the 20 countries to join the board and present during the launch are Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, and Uzbekistan, apart from the USA.
Albania, Belarus, and Vietnam had said they would join the board, but their leaders were not present at the event in Davos.
It can be seen that mostly countries from middle east, Central Asia and Eastern Europe decided to accept the invitation. Notably, many of the nations in this list are not democracies, and many of them are Muslim-majority countries run on Islamic laws.
Among the countries that declined to join, some of them have issued statements saying informing about their decision. Several countries expressed concern that the board may seek to replace the UN. Many of them cited the invitation sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the reason. However, Putin also declined to join, saying his govt is still consulting with Russia’s strategic partners over the issue.
UK confirmed that they will not be present during the launch of the board. France said that it won’t join the board as it may try to take the place of UN. Norway, Sweden, Slovenia and China also confirmed that they are not joining the board.
Other countries didn’t issue any statement, but didn’t join the board today. This includes India, Germany, Italy, Japan, the EU and many others.
Trump remains hopeful that other countries will join his board later. He said, “Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. And we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations.”
The Gaza Board of Peace forms part of Phase 2 of Trump’s 20-Point Peace Plan for West Asia, aimed at stabilising Gaza after the war and overseeing post-conflict reconstruction. First floated last September as a mechanism to end the Gaza conflict, the proposal now appears to have evolved into a broader platform for mediating international disputes.
According to a White House statement, the board’s Executive Committee would supervise key portfolios tied to Gaza’s stabilisation and long-term development, including governance capacity-building, regional engagement, reconstruction, investment mobilisation, and large-scale financing.
Notably, the board comes with an optional joining fee. Countries paying USD 1 billion would be granted permanent seats, while non-contributing participants could serve three-year terms. It is not known if any of the countries paid this fee while joining the board.
