President Trump launched his international Board of Peace Thursday with grand talk of global problem-solving and $7 billion in pledges for aid from nine Muslim nations to rebuild Gaza.
With 40 nations but few major traditional U.S. allies represented at the inaugural gathering, Trump ticked off his familiar claims of resolving several conflicts and touted the group as capable of implementing real world solutions where the United Nations has faltered.
“What we’re doing is very simple: peace,” Trump told the leaders gathered at the U.S. Institute for Peace, which was renamed after him. It’s an “easy word to say” but “hard to produce,” he added.
The gathering focused on Gaza, which was the original focus of the Board of Peace before Trump expanded it to be a potential catchall for solving various conflicts.
Muslim nations including Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait have pledged the initial $7 billion, about 10% of the amount estimated to rebuild the Palestinian enclave that was devastated by a two-year war with Israel.
A handful of nations have also vowed to contribute personnel to an international stabilization force on the ground in Gaza. U.S. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers said the force hoped to deploy 12,000 police and 20,000 soldiers, some of whom would be trained by Jordan and Egypt.
“With these first steps, we help bring the security that Gaza needs for a future of prosperity and enduring peace,” Jeffers said.
Indonesia’s President Subianto vowed to contribute at least 8,000 troops to the Gaza effort.
The U.S. will contribute $10 billion to the Board of Peace, but Trump didn’t say what the money would be used for or if Congress would be asked to appropriate the money.
The Gaza effort is controversial within the international community. Some major powers and key U.S. allies view it as a way to skirt traditional pathways for aid and reconstruction in favor of Trump’s hand-picked organizations and even private corporations.
The meeting took place as the U.S. mounts a major military buildup in the Middle East and Trump threatens to unleash more attacks on Iran.
With aircraft carriers and missile defense systems largely in place, military analysts say strikes on Iran could take place anytime if Trump loses patience with diplomacy aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear and regional military ambitions.
“We may have to take it a step further, or we may not,” Trump said. “You’re going to be finding out, probably in about 10 days.”
