President Donald Trump's Board of Peace convened for its inaugural meeting Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., with representatives from at least 40 countries in attendance, though key U.S. allies were notably absent.
During his speech, Trump pointed out leaders of nations with whom he's worked to reach peace deals, including the leaders of Albania and Azerbaijan. The board's key focus is expected to be the future of Gaza in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas, but Trump touched on other possible peace deals, including in Iran.
"Yeah, what we're doing is very simple peace. It's called the board of peace, and it's all about an easy word to say, but a hard word to produce, peace," Trump said.
Trump described the board as having significant influence and prestige.
"I believe it's the most consequential board, certainly in terms of power and in terms of prestige. There's never been anything close, because these are the greatest world leaders. Almost everybody's accepted, and the ones that haven't will be some are playing a little cute. This doesn't work. You can't play cute with me," Trump said.
The president emphasized the board's focus on Gaza and broader Middle East peace efforts.
"We work together to ensure the brighter future for the people of Gaza, the Middle East and the entire world. I think that the Board of peace because it's mostly leaders and unbelievably respected people, but mostly leaders of Middle Eastern countries, countries from all over the world, and they've been very generous with money also. And the United States, which I'll say in a moment, is also very generous with money, because there's nothing more important than peace," Trump said.
Regarding Iran, Trump noted ongoing diplomatic efforts.
"As you know, Iran is a hot spot right now, and they're meeting, and they have a good relationship with the representatives Iran. And you know, good talks are being had. It's proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal, otherwise, bad things happen," Trump said.
Trump claimed success in ending the Gaza conflict and securing broad international support.
"When I took office, the war in Gaza was raging, with 1000s of people being killed and no end in sight. Today, thanks to unrelenting diplomacy and the commitment of many of the great people in this room, we have 59 countries signed up on Gaza. Think of that we have. It's amazing. But all the people, many, really, so many in this room, the war in Gaza is over. It's over. There are little flames. Little flames. 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 very harshly. Met. They don't want that," Trump said.
The president also expressed intentions to work closely with the United Nations.
"We're going to be working with the United Nations very closely. We're going to bring them back. I think the United Nations has great potential, really great potential. It has not lived up to potential," Trump said.
Some key U.S. allies were absent from the summit amid concern Trump may hope to challenge the United Nations with his broader ambition to use the body to help resolve global conflicts.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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