Board of Peace signing expected in Davos shortly
There’s a buzz building at the World Economic Forum, as Donald Trump appears to be about to launch his Board for Peace.
Delegates are pouring into the large hall here in Davoskeen to see the signing ceremony for the body – which some fear could undermine the United Nations.
To get a better understanding of this new body, you can read this from my colleague Aamna Mohdin:
Key events
The world is a region, and we’re going to have peace in the world, Trump muses.
Trump suggests that the Board of Peace will work with the United Nations to end conflict in the world.
(there are suspicious that it could be a ploy to replace the UN).
On Gaza, Trump says Hamas must return the last, deceased, hostage to Israel.
Peering over to the leaders on the stage, Trump announces that he likes every single one of them.
Usually there’s two or three I don’t like, he jokes (!).
Trump claims the Board of Peace is one of the most consequential bodies ever created, and that he was “honoured” to be asked to be the chairman.
Onto Venezuela, Trump claims “all the oil companies” want to go in immediately.
[Oil CEOs have warned that significant investment is needed]
Trump grumbles that while most Nato allies have increased their military spending, under his urging, Spain is lagging.
He suggests Madrid “wants a free ride”.
Trump then diverts into a monologue about his election victory in 2024, and the sweeping turnaround since.
He’s repeating some key points from his speech yesterday about falling inflation and shrinking trade gap.
Getting back to the point in hand, he declares that a lot of fires have been put out, saying:
Today the world is richer, safer and much more peaceful than it was just a year ago.
He adds that the war in Gaza is “really coming to an end”, although there are some “little fires” to put out.
Trump singles out former UK PM Tony Blair (in the audience, i think), saying he appreciates his presence.
Blair was name last month as a member of the executive board.
Classic Trump: he tells the assembled board of peace members that he’s “truly honoured” by their presence today, saying they are mostly very popular leaders, but in cases not so much.
That’s the way it goes, he muses (indeed…)
Trump: We’ll settle another war pretty soon
Trump says we now have ‘peace in the Middle East’, repeats his claim to having settled eight wars, and then suggests that “another one’s coming pretty soon”.
He means Russia-Ukraine, calling it “the one I thought was going to be an easy one” but turned out to be the most difficult.
29,000 people, mostly soldiers, died last month, Trump says, a “terrible” toll.
He adds “we’re making a lot of progress” in the peace talks, echoing what we heard from Steve Witkoff this morning.
Trump: An exciting day
Now Donald Trump takes the stage, as the chairman of the Board of Peace.
Trump says it’s a very exciting day, and claims that “everyone wants to be a part of it” (although several, including the UK, have declined the opportunity).
Trump says the board of peace will work with “many others, including the United Nations”.
Onto the stage come…
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A representative of Bahrain,
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A representative of Morocco,
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The president of Argentina
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Prime minister of Armenia
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President of Azerbaijan
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Prime minister of Bulgaria
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Prime minsiter of Hungary
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President of Indonesia
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Deputy prime minister of Jordon
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president of Kosovo
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prime minister of Pakistan
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President of Paraguay
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prime minister of Qatar
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foreign affair minister from Saudi Arabia
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foreign affairs minister of Turkey
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A representative from the UAE
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The president of Uzbekistan
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Prime minister of Mongolia
World leaders are now coming on to the stage here in Davos for the Board of Peace signing.
As we await the ceremony to kick off, here’s a list of countries who have accepted invitation to join the board, according to the Associated Press.
That list includes: Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
And these are the ones who won’t join, for now at least: France, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK.
Others have also been invited but haven’t committed either way: Cambodia, China, Croatia, Germany, India, Italy, the EU’s executive arm, Paraguay, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and Ukraine.
Starmer welcomes Trump dropping UK tariffs over Greenland
It was a “good thing” Donald Trump dropped his threat to slap tariffs on the UK, Sir Keir Starmer has said, as he warned the “hard yards” of beefing up Greenland’s security would now begin.
Speaking to local residents during a visit to Hertfordshire on Thursday, the Prime Minister said:
“I think you will have noticed that the last few days have been incredibly serious in relation to big things happening on the world stage.
“And you may have seen but it is a good thing that yesterday, the threat of tariffs against the United Kingdom was lifted and now we can start hard yards and finding a way forward on security in the Arctic, which may seem a long way away, pretty remote, but actually it does matter to all of us in terms of the safety and security of our country.
“And we’ve got through the last few days with a mix of British pragmatism, common sense, but also that British sense of sticking to our values and our principles.
“But now, as I say, the hard yards of actually finding a better way for security for our country, for Europe and across the globe.”
The logo of the Board of Peace on the screen here at Davos has a rather North American focus, although central America and some of South America also squeeze on:
