President Donald Trump held his first meeting of his self-described “Board of Peace” on Thursday, and the event was most notable for the absence of major world powers and highlighting Trump’s inability to lead on the global stage.
The group of world leaders included figures who have been close to Trump, including Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán and Argentina’s Javier Milei—who Trump has spent billions bailing out.
But absent were major world powers like the United Kingdom, France, and Norway. Additionally, the Vatican did not attend Trump’s event. Cardinal Pietro Parolin of the Vatican said in remarks on Tuesday that the main issue the “Board of Peace” had ostensibly assembled to discuss, the future of Gaza, was an issue for the United Nations.
“One concern is that at the international level it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted,” Parolin said.
The world leaders that did choose to attend had to stand around with Trump for a photo op accompanied by music from Guns N’ Roses.
Despite the branding of the event, Trump threatened military action against Iran in his remarks, noting, “You’re going to be finding out probably over the next 10 days.”
Trump also forgot the names of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in his remarks, flogged his wife’s poorly reviewed movie, and once again complained about not winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
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Trump: "I thought when I saw this note -- 'I'm excited to announce that Norway' -- I thought they were going to say they're giving me the Nobel Prize. Oh. This is less exciting. But I don't care. I don't care about Nobel Prize."
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 19, 2026 at 10:16 AM
There are a host of governance and operational issues hanging over the organization, in addition to the obvious problems.
Trump named himself chairman for life of the “Board of Peace” but failed to outline who would lead the organization after his term as president is over. Also member states are given a three-year membership, but are encouraged to contribute $1 billion within the first year for permanent membership. Details are of course unclear on where that money would go and Trump has a long history of corruption and financial impropriety.
Related | Trump's bogus Board of Peace plots to squat in seized federal building
Currently the “Board of Peace” is housed in the former location of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a building which Trump illegally had renamed after himself, as he did with the Kennedy Center.
And despite the fate of Gaza purportedly being central to the board, it has no Palestinian representation. After all, it was Trump who promoted an AI video last year that floated the notion of turning Gaza into a gaudy Trump-themed resort.
The “Board of Peace” is a vehicle for Trump to avoid the United Nations, where he has consistently given poorly received speeches that failed to rally international support to his positions. Trump’s most notable U.N.-related moments have had more to do with ranting about malfunctioning escalators than achieving international cooperation.
Trump cannot even work alongside regional partners like Canada and Mexico—but he thinks his joke of a “Board of Peace” can supplant the U.N.
