THE GRIFT

 5 takeaways from Trump’s Board of Peace launch event

Laura Kelly
Thu, February 19, 2026 

THE HILL



President Trump on Thursday gathered representatives from nearly 50 countries in Washington D.C. to mark an inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace.

The meeting laid out the Trump administration’s plan for the next phase of the U.S. peace plan for the Gaza Strip, but the president also touted the potential for the board to tackle other conflicts.

“We will make Gaza very successful and safe and we are also going to maybe take it a step further, where we see hotspots around the world, we could probably do that very easily,” Trump said.

European nations in particular have largely held back from signing up for Trump’s broader vision for the Board of Peace, which was originally endorsed in a United Nations Security Council resolution in October.

That resolution helped solidify a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after three years of war, also laying out a roadmap for Gaza’s reconstruction and rehabilitation.

But Gaza still poses an immense challenge as the Board of Peace seeks to demonstrate it can deliver on its mandate. The enclave is currently split between control by Hamas and Israel’s military, with overwhelming humanitarian needs and an economy at a near standstill.

Here are five takeaways from the first meeting of the Board of Peace:

Trump pledges $10 billion

To tackle the ambitions of Gaza’s reconstruction, Trump touted a U.S. pledge of $10 billion to the Board of Peace.

“When you look at that compared to the cost of war, that’s two weeks of fighting, it’s a very small number,” Trump said. “It sounds like a lot, but it’s a very small number.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on where the funds would be drawn from.

Roughly $6.5 billion in pledges have come in from other countries, the White House said.

Money for Gaza will go to a dedicated fund at the World Bank, called the Gaza Reconstruction and Development Fund, said World Bank President Ajay Banga.

The Board of Peace — chaired by Trump, who appears to have the ultimate decision-making power — directs where the money is dispersed.

“This fund is ready to receive the donations that he spoke about just a little while ago,” Banga said at the event.

Banga said the Board of Peace is responsible for ensuring “that the right kind of financial legal and oversight mechanisms are being put in place,” while the World Bank is expected to help with transparency, assigning a financial controller to help “build the best standards.”

Gaza faces decisive moment

The meeting comes at a decisive moment for Gaza’s future, where Hamas has yet to signal it’s ready to disarm completely and hand over control of the strip. Such refusal risks collapsing the ceasefire and returning to war.

“Hamas, I think they are going to give up their weapons which is what they promised,” Trump told the crowd. “If they don’t, they will be very harshly met.”

The U.S. is giving Hamas a 60-day period to disarm, Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs said Monday during a speech, adding that Israel is respecting that timeline, but prepared to restart the war if Hamas fails to follow through.

“We will evaluate it,” Fuchs said, according to the Times of Israel. “If it works, great. If not, then the IDF will have to complete the mission.”

Fuchs did not give a start date of the two-month timeline.

Meanwhile, Ali Shaath, head of the Palestinian technocratic committee charged with taking over governance of the strip, told the Board of Peace meeting that discipline on implementing the plan is required in “extremely difficult conditions.”

“Large parts of the Gaza Strip are severely damaged, destroyed actually. Humanitarian needs are acute. Law and order remain fragile. This is not normal operating environment,” he said.

Board presents challenge to UN

Trump said the Board of Peace is working closely with the United Nations but suggested his forum could overtake the 80-year multi-lateral body, charged with keeping peace in the world.

“Someday I won’t be here. The Board of Peace is almost going to be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly,” he said.

The European Union and its member states have declined invitations to join Trump’s Board of Peace with concern that it is trying to overtake the U.N., and confusion over the Board’s structure and decision-making power.

Trump has appointed himself as chair for life, and offered life-time membership to countries that pledge $1 billion.

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama echoed Trump’s criticism of the U.N. Rama is a close ally to the Trump family, providing approval for the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to develop a $1.4 billion real estate project in the country.

“It does not look to me like an attempt to replace the United Nations, but if it helps shake that agonizing giant and, Inshallah, wake it up, then God bless the Board of Peace,” he said.

Trump threatens Iran

While repeatedly touting peace in the Middle East, Trump gave a 10-day deadline for Iran to come to an agreement or risk a major military attack.

Trump has amassed a massive military contingent in the Middle East, with a complete strike force set to be in place by March. This includes more than a dozen war ships – specifically two aircraft carrier strike groups – and the largest assemblage of airpower since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump, recounting the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, said the U.S. “may have to take it a step further or we may not. You will be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”

“We do have some work to do with Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon, they’ve been told that very strongly,” Trump said.

Iran is expected to deliver a written proposal for how to resolve its standoff with the U.S. and address U.S. concerns. The Trump administration’s position is believed to be that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, cannot have a ballistic missile program and must disband its terrorist proxy groups across the region.

Trump scorns holdouts

A little less than half of the countries Trump invited to join the Board of Peace are holding off from signing on as an official member, while 26 countries have signed onto the Board’s charter.

Trump, projecting his image as a deal-maker during the inaugural meeting, issued a veiled threat to countries that have held back from joining.

“Almost everybody has accepted, and the ones that have not, will be,” he said.

“Some are playing a little cute. That’s not working, you can’t play cute with me. They’re playing a little bit.”

Pascal Confavreux, spokesperson for French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, said Paris skipped the meeting because of “ambiguity about its scope.”

“As long as there is ambiguity about its scope, France cannot participate, quite simply,” Confavreux said.

Canada and other European powers have expressed similar reservations.

Each leader or country representative on the board was given an opportunity to speak and some officials used their time to praise Trump, evoking the run-of-show of the president’s cabinet meetings.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called Trump the “savior of southeast Asia” for his intervention in calming conflict between India and Pakistan.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close Trump ally, repeated the president’s claims that Russia’s war in Ukraine would not have started under Trump.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Trump Nods Off In Public Again — And This Time Was Especially Embarrassing

David Moye
Thu, February 19, 2026 
HUFFPOST


Donald Trump held the first meeting his so-called Board of Peace in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, but it’s not exactly clear whether the president was actually “present” the whole time.

That’s because Trump seemed to have a hard time keeping his eyes open during the three-hour meeting.

President Donald Trump... looks on during speeches on Feb. 19, 2026, at the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace, which was assembled to raise money for the rebuilding and stabilization of Gaza.

 Chip Somodevilla via Getty Image

Of course, that’s when Trump wasn’t doing his own trademark rambling... er, “weaving” about everything from the physical attractiveness of Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña to the tragedy of not getting that **** Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump’s nodding off on Thursday isn’t a new thing. He’s appeared to doze at several public events over the last few months.



Last July, Trump had a hard time keeping his eyes open during a televised White House event on “Making Health Technology Great Again.”

After Trump seemed to fall asleep during a November press meeting, Newsom trolled him by calling him “Dozy Don.”