President Donald Trump promised Thursday that his newly established “Board of Peace” will not “be a waste of time,” just after the leaders of several countries signed its charter in a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, where leading figures are gathered for the World Economic Forum.
Trump, who has been vocal about his hopes to one day win the Nobel Peace Prize, said he expects the board to work in concert with the decades-old United Nations, though he didn’t detail how, since many of the countries belong to both international organizations.
“Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do, and we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” he said. “You know, I’ve always said the United Nations has got tremendous potential, has not used it. But there’s tremendous potential in the United Nations.”
The board includes Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan, according to a list shared by the White House.
The Trump administration earlier this month stopped processing visas for residents from several of those countries, writing in a social media post that those “migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.” Countries on the list include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Jordan, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Belgium declines
The White House originally included Belgium on the list of Board of Peace members, but Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prévot wrote in a social media post the country’s leaders have “NOT signed the Charter of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect.”
“We wish for a common and coordinated European response,” Prévot wrote. “As many European countries, we have reservations to the proposal.”
Trump has been highly critical of European allies and repeatedly criticized NATO during his second term, especially as he’s ramped up pressure to acquire Greenland.
Trump said during his speech, while members of the Board of Peace sat nearby in chairs, that he believes it “has the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created.”
“Together, we are in a position to have an incredible chance — I don’t even call it a chance. I think it’s going to happen — to end decades of suffering, stop generations of hatred and bloodshed, and forge a beautiful, everlasting and glorious peace for that region and for the whole region of the world because I’m calling the world a region,” Trump said. “The world is a region. We’re going to have peace in the world. And boy, would that be a great legacy for all of us. Everybody in this room is a star, or you wouldn’t be here.”
Republished from States Newsroom under a Creative Commons license.