We are not even a month into 2026, and now face a genuine question: is Donald Trump using his “board of peace” as a pretext to replace the United Nations?
It is no secret that Trump wants to shake things up and has no love for the global body.
And it is no exaggeration to say that Trump’s actions since he took office a year ago have already sparked a global paradigm shift, driven by “America First” policy, his desire to be a deal-maker president, and his “Donroe Doctrine”, which seeks to reassert US dominance in the western hemisphere.
Now, as the UN marks its 80th anniversary, it appears the president is attempting to build a rival organisation that he could lead himself.
And in true Trump style, it resembles the restructuring of a major corporation.
Last week, the White House announced the membership of what it called a founding executive board, “under the chairmanship of President Donald J Trump”.
Composed of his inner circle, billionaires and Tony Blair, it will oversee the long-awaited board of peace, which was originally meant to enact the president’s 20-point plan for Gaza and the reconstruction of the devastated territory.
However, the real ambitions of both bodies appear to extend far beyond Gaza, according to recent leaks from the draft charter. The charter has reportedly been sent to around 60 countries for their sign on. Some diplomats are concerned it is, in fact, intended as a rival to the UN.
For a start, the text of the charter does not mention Gaza at all, according to the text obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the Financial Times.
Instead, the body aims to “restore dependable and lawful governance and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”. It stresses that its ambition is to be a “more nimble and effective international peace building body”, in what appears to be a direct dig at the UN.
The charter also grants wide-ranging powers to Trump as chair, according to Haaretz that said the text allows him to appoint and remove member states, a decision that could only be overturned by a two-thirds veto.
Diplomatic sources have said the scope for this board could even extend to negotiating crises and conflict in places like Venezuela and Ukraine.
The White House said on the Executive Board is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy and real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Mr Blair, whose role in the 2003 invasion Iraq has made him unpopular in some Middle Eastern quarters.
Also listed are Marc Rowan, the billionaire chief executive of a private equity firm – Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, and Robert Gabriel, a US national security adviser.
The Board of Peace, which sits below it, contains several members of the Executive Board, alongside two former UN envoys including Sigrid Kaag, who last year quit as the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, telling a Dutch outlet the entire process was on “life support”. It also contains representatives of Egypt, the UAE, Qatar and Turkey who all played a key role in Gaza peace negotiations.
There are no Palestinians. There is one Israeli: Yakir Gabay, a billionaire property tycoon.
Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov claimed the Russian president received an invitation to join the Board of Peace “through diplomatic channels”.
Invitation letters sent to heads of state to join the charter also indicate that this body is not solely about Gaza.
“The Board of Peace and its executive will establish a New International Organisation and Transitional Governing Administration” reads the letter sent to Argentine President Javier Milei, who published his invite online.
“Our effort will bring together a distinguished group of nations ready to shoulder the noble responsibility of building LASTING PEACE,” it adds.
Each member state can designate an authorised representative to attend and participate in meetings, it adds.
Does any of that structure sound familiar?
As I said, it is no secret that Trump is no fan of the UN. After being stuck on a broken escalator and then dealing with a malfunctioning teleprompter at the 80th UN General Assembly meeting in September, he delivered a blistering speech, questioning “what is the purpose of the United Nations?”
From the podium, he declared he had ended seven wars, but “never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help.”
He concluded by saying the UN is not only failing to solve the problems it should, but too often is “actually creating new problems for us to solve”.
And he has gone on to take unilateral action.
Since the war on Gaza erupted in 2023, the US has vetoed six UN Security Council resolutions calling for ceasefires in Gaza, the latest in September.
Instead the president has pressed ahead with his own deal, and these boards. The mandate for a Board of Peace was authorised by the UN Security Council in November, but that authorisation limits its geographical focus to the Gaza conflict and its mandate to 2027.
And so has the US president simply taken this limited approval and run with it?
The fear from some quarters is the creation of a decision-making global body controlled and staffed by one of the most powerful men on the planet, who appears intent on challenging other international structures such as Nato, and the ICC.
To cite a former deputy secretary general of Nato, Trump seems bent on destroying “what has been the post Second World War, law governed order enshrined in the UN Charter”.
Is taking down the UN in his sights?
