(The Epoch Times)—President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 said the Board of Peace he has prepared as part of his Gaza peace process could end up replacing the United Nations.
“I wish the United Nations could do more. I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace, but … with all the wars I settled, the United Nations never helped me on one war,” Trump said during a White House press briefing on Tuesday.
When a reporter asked the president whether the Board of Peace could replace the U.N., he replied, “It might.”
“The U.N. just hasn’t been very helpful. I’m a big fan of the U.N. potential, but it has never lived up to its potential,” he said.
Trump, who has taken credit for resolving eight armed conflicts around the world in the first year of his second White House term, has criticized the U.N. for not having done more to resolve those conflicts, which include those between Israel and Hamas, India and Pakistan, and Cambodia and Thailand.
Despite criticizing the U.N., Trump didn’t call for the dissolution of the international body.
“I believe you’ve got to let the U.N. continue, because the potential is so great,” he said.
The White House on Jan. 16 named several members of the Trump administration, as well as international leaders, to positions within the Board of Peace, which aims to provide strategic insight, mobilize international resources, and ensure accountability during Gaza’s transition and reconstruction.
Trump is expected to formally release the charter for the Board of Peace during his visit to Davos, Switzerland, this week.
While addressing an assembly of French academics on Jan. 19, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the proposed charter for the Board of Peace appears to describe “broad powers.”
“We are far, very far, from the United Nations charter,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on French wine if France rejects his invitation to join the Board of Peace.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair are among those tapped to serve on an executive board for the Board of Peace. Others on the executive board include private equity executive Marc Rowan, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, and U.S. deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.
The Board of Peace will include a National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, led by Palestinian Authority official Ali Abdel Hamid Shaath.
Nikolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat and former U.N. envoy to the Middle East, has also been named to serve as the High Representative for Gaza. This role entails acting as a link between the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
A Gaza Executive Board will also support the High Representative for Gaza and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. This executive board will include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi; Maj. Gen. Hassan Rashad, head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service; Emirati Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay; and Dutch diplomat and U.N. envoy Sigrid Kaag.
The Board of Peace will also include an international stabilization force, to be led by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers.
Emel Akan and Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.
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