The New World Order — Signed in Davos
Trump’s “Board of Peace” expands from Gaza oversight into a globe-spanning project with a chairman-for-life vibe - and with some leaders who wouldn’t look out of place in orange prison jumpsuits
Trump’s self-congratulatory unveiling of his so-called “Board of Peace” in Davos was meant to look like statesmanship - but it landed more like a power play in a peace-plan costume. Originally pitched as a small oversight group for the Gaza ceasefire, the project has quietly ballooned into something far more ambitious: a new global club that Trump claims “might” even replace the UN - with a structure that appears to keep him chairman for life. I unpacked what this could really mean in a live CNN Early Start interview from Bangkok, including the eyebrow-raising roster of would-be members and why the whole thing feels designed less for diplomacy than for loyalty. (Watch the clip below 👇)
The pompous unveiling of Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace initiative captured the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos today. Originally planned as a small group to oversee the Gaza ceasefire, the board has morphed into something far more ambitious. And Trump could be chairman for life. “Every country, just about every country, wants to be a part of it,” Trump said when he inaugurated the board - but in fact it appears that many of his allies are sceptical. After giving a speech praising his own record, the president signed the charter of the new body. He says it “might” replace the UN, but heavyweight countries have turned down invitations to join for now. After finishing his speech, he invited representatives from Bahrain and Morocco on stage to “bring the Board of Peace into full force”. They put pen to paper on the charter, ratifying the Board of Peace. “At the moment, this Board of Peace is constructed by people who want to be friends with Donald Trump and who want the world to know that they’re friends with Donald Trump,” said Sky News Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons. Many leaders who turned up today have “very little connection at all with what is going on in Gaza”, he added. Among them are figures from Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Paraguay, Indonesia, Azerbaijan and Hungary. “It’s clear that the members of the Board of Peace see this as a rethinking of the international structure, as a way of aligning themselves with an American leader,” Parsons says. (It is not clear whether Thailand will join, but one analyst advised not to rule it out).
Moscow would be willing to contribute $1 billion to Trump’s “Board of Peace” but that it would require that Russia’s assets on U.S. soil be unblocked, President Vladimir V. Putin said on Thursday. “I think this is quite possible,” Putin told the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in the Kremlin. He said he planned to discuss the possibility of donating some of Russia’s frozen assets to the body on Thursday during a planned meeting with Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner. - NYT
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde reportedly walked out of a high-profile dinner at the World Economic Forum in Davos after a speech by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, which was heavily critical of Europe, sparked heckling and led to the event being cut short. Sources familiar with the matter indicated that Ms Lagarde departed during a particularly scathing passage of Mr Lutnick’s address on Tuesday night, which prompted heckles from attendees. The exclusive gathering, hosted by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, a co-chairman of the WEF, brought together hundreds of major forum members, heads of state, and other dignitaries. Following the heckling and subsequent walkouts, Mr Fink reportedly concluded the dinner prematurely, before dessert was served, according to one of the sources present. There was uproar following combative remarks from Lutnick, with widespread jeering, guests exiting and appeals for calm from Fink, their report added, without going into details on Lutnick’s comments or what the hecklers said - Reuters
Watch my interview, live from Bangkok on CNN Early Start with Rahel Solomon - just before Donald Trump unveiled his so-called “Board of Peace.” I break down why the Board’s mandate raises serious questions - including whether it’s designed to compete with (or undermine) the United Nations, rather than support genuine diplomacy. I also flag a troubling detail: Trump appears to be positioning himself as chairman indefinitely - with the power to appoint his own successor. And then there’s the membership. Among the leaders and political figures reportedly linked to the project are monarchs, three former Soviet republics, and at least one figure wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes. At one point I joked I’m surprised Kim Jong-un hasn’t been invited yet - because frankly, none of them would look out of place in an orange prison jumpsuit.
Japan’s exports to the U.S. have fallen for the first time in five years in the back of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Shipments to the U.S. fell 4.1% led by cars and chipmaking machinery, marking the worst decline since 2016 excluding the impact from the pandemic. Shipments to China declined 0.4%. On a monthly basis, Japan’s exports rose for a fourth consecutive month in December as Chinese demand held steady despite an ongoing diplomatic dispute that began last year. But shipments to the U.S. dropped, led by cars. “Exports are growing overall, led by semiconductors, but I believe this growth may not be sustainable,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute, told The Japan Times. “Geopolitical risks are increasing, and U.S. consumption is also expected to slow.” - Nikkei Asia/News services
A trio of Republican senators asked the Trump administration to end a visa waiver program that they say encourages “birth tourism” from Chinese nationals and allows them “to obtain fast-track American citizenship.“ The program currently allows Chinese nationals to visit the U.S. territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands visa-free for up to 14 days. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum dated Jan. 15, the three GOP senators — Rick Scott of Florida, Jim Banks of Indiana and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma — urged the Trump administration to end the Guam-CNMI waiver program, saying it “has opened the United States to significant security threats by creating a veritable cottage industry of Chinese nationals giving birth in the [Mariana Islands] and gaining access to U.S. citizenship.” The senators’ letter comes as Scott pushes for a bill he introduced in November that would ban the use of surrogacy in the U.S. by people from certain foreign countries, including China. Scott’s bill highlights a Chinese-born couple in California who had nearly two dozen babies born to surrogates removed from their care last year amid a child abuse investigation - CBS
Russia’s FSB security service said Thursday that its officers arrested a man for allegedly gathering information for Moldova’s spy agency. The man, identified only as a Russian citizen, traveled to Moscow in December to carry out an assignment “aimed against Russia’s national security” on behalf of Moldova’s Information and Security Service (SIS), the FSB said in a statement. In a video released by Russian state media, an FSB officer said the SIS directed the man to “collect and share information about the work of opposition parties and activists, their funding and the personal data of FSB employees….In addition, the man regularly visited Russia, where he met with public officials and government personnel,” the FSB officer said, identifying the alleged Moldovan agent’s superior as an SIS officer by the name Mihail Petrescu. According to the FSB, the Russian man was cooperating with investigators. In an interrogation video released by the security agency, he claimed to have been “forced” to work “periodically” with Moldova’s SIS. The man was charged with secretly working with a foreign government and placed in pre-trial detention. The charge carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison. Moldova’s SIS later rejected the FSB accusations. “Such statements represent an attempt to manipulate public opinion and raise tensions in the region,” the spy agency said. Likewise, Moldovan President Maia Sandu called the allegations false - Moscow Times
The aircraft that Qatar donated to the US as a new Air Force One for President Donald Trumpcould be delivered in the next several months. “The Air Force remains committed to expediting delivery of the VC-25 bridge aircraft in support of the presidential airlift mission, with an anticipated delivery no later than summer 2026,” the Air Force said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement was released a day after a plane carrying Trump to the World Economic Forum in Davos returned to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland due to “a minor electrical issue,” according to the White House. The president then boarded a smaller Boeing 757, typically used by the vice president or cabinet members, for the flight to Switzerland. The expected delivery of the luxury Boeing Co.747-8 jumbo jet, which the US Defense Department formally accepted from Qatar last year, was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal. The jet is one of the largest foreign gifts ever given to the American government. Trump has defended the decision to accept the aircraft, which has raised ethical and security concerns. Retrofitting the plane to carry the president is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take months of work, according to US officials - Bloomberg
The journals….
