Donald Trump’s first meeting of his so-called “Board of Peace” got off to an extremely awkward start with a group of strongmen left waiting for the president as his favorite songs blasted in the background.
It continued down a bizarre path on Thursday with the president rambling for 45 minutes about a series of grievances, bragging about his peace deals, attacking U.S. political foes, and even making a series of cringy comments about those in attendance.
Trump announced the U.S. would be contributing $10 billion to his so-called “Board of Peace,” which was created as part of his multi-step Gaza peace plan.
He also suggested the board would take on a greater role, including “almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly.”
To kick it off, the leaders of countries that signed up for Trump’s initiative stood around waiting to take a group photo with Elvis’s “If I Can Dream” playing loudly over the sound system.
The inaugural meeting of the “Board of Peace” was held on Thursday morning at the Institute of Peace headquarters in Washington, DC, which was draped in blue for the occasion.
At one point, Pro-MAGA Argentinian President Javier Milei stood quietly looking toward the audience to one side as across the stage, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is accused of eroding democracy in his own country, appeared to make small talk with the leader of Vietnam and a representative from Saudi Arabia.
When the president finally rolled up to take the group photo, a Guns and Roses song was playing overhead.
“Does everybody like the music?” Trump cracked as the group around him nodded approvingly.
“Perfect song,” his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who Trump declared was “Envoy of Peace,” could be heard saying as he stood nearby.
The president, who named himself chairman of the board, stood at the center of the group and suggested they should all smile for the family photo as he grinned toward the cameras. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff were also in attendance.
When the president finally got to the reason why the “Board of Peace” was created, he declared the war in Gaza was over.
“It’s over. There are little flames, little flames,” Trump said. “Hamas has been, I think they’re going to give up their weapons, which is what they promised. If they don’t, it’ll be, you know they’ll be harshly met.”
Representatives from some 48 countries were in attendance for the event, according to a senior administration official, but the U.S.’s closest allies did not sign on as members, so those seated around the president included a mix of small global players and strongmen.
The lack of enthusiasm from many European nations and other close allies appeared to have struck a nerve with the president, who insisted multiple times that more countries would be joining and that many were watching the event online.
“We have a large group of leaders and the ones that aren’t here are watching on Zoom,” Trump claimed at the start of his remarks.
Some countries have raised concerns about the board’s authority, how it would manage the money raised to secure and rebuild Gaza, and questioned whether the president was trying to usurp the United Nations’ role.
But the president was insistent that his board was a glowing success, praising the dictators who had signed on.
“These are great leaders, and the people that are watching by closed circuit and open circuit in many cases is so proud of it,” Trump said.
“Almost everybody’s accepted, and the ones that haven’t will be,” Trump claimed. “Some are playing a little cute. Doesn’t work. You can’t play cute with me.”
It came one day after the Vatican said it would not participate in the “Board of Peace” initiatives, and crisis situations should be handled through the U.N.
When it came to the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Trump quipped, “I always say he needs a public relations agency because you do so much good, and they have you down as evil, and you’re not evil, you help us so much, and you’re such a good ally.”
During the president’s more than 45-minute speech, he praised the U.N. and indicated he would be soon be speaking to the secretary-general, but he quickly complained about the teleprompter not working at his address before the general assembly and the escalator stopping last September.
He also continued to rant about Norway and not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I’m excited to announce that Norway has agreed to host an event bringing together the ‘Board of Peace.’ Oh, I thought when I saw this note, ‘I’m excited to announce that Norway,’ I thought they were going to say that they’re giving me the Nobel Prize,” Trump complained. “Oh, this is less exciting.”
