Trump signs the founding document of the Board of Peace: 'We are going to have peace in the world'

Accompanied by heads of state and foreign ministers from 19 countries, Donald Trump signed the founding charter of the Peace Board in Davos. In a prior speech reviewing the situation in Gaza, he assured that the new international body will work in coordination with the United Nations (U.N.).

"We are going to have peace in the world," the president assured prior to the signing. "The first steps toward a brighter day for the Middle East, and a much safer future for the world are unfolding right before your very eyes."

"This is not just a Board of Peace, this is a board of action," assured Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a member of the board. "Today is the beginning of that — of a new era, and a new stage that we think is so important, as a model to the rest of the world of what is possible."

"We have achieved a peace deal in Gaza. We have brought the hostages home... and maybe most importantly, we have created a sense of hope for what the future can bring — to Gaza, and all other places where the Board of Peace will operate," added, for his part, Steve Witkoff, special envoy for Peace Missions.

Among the leaders present at the signing ceremony were Argentine President Javier Milei and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña. Also in attendance were their counterparts from Indonesia and Kazakhstan, as well as the foreign ministers of Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Jordan. All signed the charter, pledging to participate.

The newly created board envisions permanent membership costing $1 billion, according to AFP. Among the several invited leaders are also Russia's Vladimir Putin, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukraine's Volodimir Zelenski and Pope Leo XIV.

Other statements by Trump

During his speech, Trump threw a dart at Spain for not joining last June at a NATO summit on the goal of spending 5% of GDP on Defense, according to AFP.

He also referred to the situation in Iran, where he recently threatened to attack, in support of the demonstrators mobilized against the Islamic power and bloodily repressed, as denounced by several NGOs. 

The president recalled on this occasion his country's bombing of three Iranian nuclear power plants on June 22, as part of the war between Israel and the Islamic Republic, and to prevent Tehran from acquiring an atomic bomb. "Can't let that happen," he said. "And Iran does want to talk, and we'll talk."

He also fired a message to Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, warning it that it must lay down its arms or "will be blown away very quickly." "They have to give up their weapons, and if they don't do that, it's going to be the end of them," Trump said, adding that the Islamist group "were born with rifles in their hands."