Broad mandate of Trump’s Board of Peace sets it up for rivalry with UN

January 17, 2026 adminsr

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free

The Board of Peace set up by Donald Trump to oversee Gaza will have a broader mandate that could allow it to rival the UN and mediate in other global conflicts, according to the charter sent to prospective members.

The body was originally conceived as part of the US president’s push to create a new governance framework for the shattered Palestinian enclave in the wake of Israel’s devastating two-year offensive against Hamas.

But the text of its charter, which does not mention Gaza but stresses the need for a “more nimble and effective international peace-building body”, suggests its scope would be far broader, and that the body — which will be chaired by Trump himself — could be used as a rival to the UN.

“The Board of Peace is an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” the charter says, according to a copy seen by the Financial Times.

“Durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.”

The distribution of the charter came after US officials had floated the idea of allowing the board to mediate in other hotspots such as Ukraine and Venezuela, and appears to give credence to diplomats’ fears that the Trump administration is seeking ways to sideline the UN.

The top level of the board will consist “exclusively” of heads of state under Trump’s leadership, according to a White House official.

On Saturday, a Saudi official said: “The kingdom has received the invitation to join the Board of Peace from the US administration and it is being reviewed as per our internal processes. We are supportive of President Trump’s efforts to resolve the conflict and bring lasting peace to Gaza and the region.”

The charter, details of which were first reported by Haaretz, gives wide-ranging powers to Trump as chair of the Board of Peace, allowing him to appoint as well as remove member states — a decision that could only be overturned by a two-thirds majority of members.

It appears to give him a veto on the Board’s decisions, which it says will be “made by a majority of the member states present and voting, subject to the approval of the chairman, who may also cast a vote in his capacity as chairman in the event of a tie”.

It also provides him with the “exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfil the Board of Peace’s mission” such as the executive committee that will deal with Gaza, or other similar boards created for other conflicts.

“It’s just very confused as an idea,” said a senior European official. “What does “membership” mean? Is it an alliance or a body for mediation between adversaries?”

A US official said on Friday that planning for the Board was focused on the Israel-Gaza conflict and had not yet expanded beyond it.

But later, the official said that the Board of Peace had been structured with a top tier board composed of heads of state, and below that a founding executive board, which itself sits above a Gaza executive board, because “it’s possible that the Board of Peace in the future could end up . . . encompassing more than Gaza”.

The other peace deals that Trump “has delivered on could be encompassed” in the Board of Peace’s mandate through the creation of further executive boards, the official said.

The board was formally authorised to oversee Gaza’s postwar transition by a UN Security Council resolution in November. But it is unclear what legal mandate the board would function under beyond the Middle East.

Trump has long been hostile to the UN, and toyed with pulling the US out of the organisation entirely. Earlier this month he withdrew the US from 31 UN entities which he said operated “contrary to US national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty”.