US President Donald Trump’s government has asked countries to pay $1 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts, according to its charter seen by AFP.The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.- What will it do? -The Board of Peace will be chaired by Trump, according to its founding charter.It is “an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”, reads the preamble of the charter sent to countries invited to participate. It will “undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law”, it adds.- Who will run it? -Trump will be chairman but also “separately serve as inaugural representative” of the US.”The chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfil the Board of Peace’s mission,” the document states.He will pick members of an executive board to be “leaders of global stature” to “serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the chairman”.He may also, “acting on behalf of the Board of Peace”, “adopt resolutions or other directives”.The chairman can be replaced only in case of “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity”.- Who can be a member? -Member states must be invited by the US president, and will be represented by their head of state or government.Each member “shall serve a term of no more than three years”, the charter says.But “the three-year membership term shall not apply to member states that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the charter’s entry into force”, it adds.The board will “convene voting meetings at least annually”, and “each member state shall have one vote”.But while all decisions require “a majority of member states present and voting”, they will also be “subject to the approval of the chairman, who may also cast a vote in his capacity as chairman in the event of a tie”.- Who’s on the executive board? -The executive board will “operationalise” the organisation’s mission, according to the White House, which said it would be chaired by Trump and include seven members:- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio- Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special negotiator- Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law- Tony Blair, former UK prime minister- Marc Rowan, billionaire US financier- Ajay Banga, World Bank president – Robert Gabriel, loyal Trump aide on the National Security Council- Which countries are invited? -Dozens of countries and leaders have said they have received an invitation.They include China, India, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and  Argentina’s President Javier Milei have also confirmed an invite.Other countries to confirm invites include Jordan, Brazil, Paraguay, Pakistan and a host of nations from Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.- Who will join? -Countries from Albania to Vietnam have indicated a willingness to join the board.Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Trump’s most ardent supporter in the European Union, is also in.Canada said it would take part, but explicitly ruled out paying the $1-billion fee for permanent membership.It is unclear whether others who have responded positively — Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Vietnam among them — would be willing to pay the $1 billion.- Who won’t be involved? -Long-time US ally France has indicated it will not join. The response sparked an immediate threat from Trump to slap sky-high tariffs on French wine.Zelensky said it would be “very hard” to be a member of a council alongside Russia, and diplomats were “working on it”.- When does it start? -The charter says it enters into force “upon expression of consent to be bound by three States”.burs-jxb/rmb

US President Donald Trump has made an astonishing series of attacks apparently designed to humiliate allies France, Britain and Canada as the row over Greenland threatens to engulf the Davos forum.In a flurry of Truth Social posts and comments to reporters a day before he leaves for the elite gathering on Wednesday, Trump leaked apparently private text messages from French President Emmanuel Macron and the head of NATO.His comments leave the transatlantic alliance in perhaps its most fragile state since World War II — and underscore that Trump is determined to make a show of power at the meeting in the Swiss ski resort.On the first anniversary of his inauguration for a second term that has already upended the global order, Trump took particular aim at Macron as their longstanding bromance appeared to implode.Trump first expressed his disdain for Macron’s refusal to join his so-called “Board of Peace” for resolving conflicts worldwide. “Nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in Florida, before threatening 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne.A number of Western leaders harbour worries that the body, originally designed for Gaza, would create a shadow UN, while the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin has caused alarm.Shortly afterwards Trump posted a private text message from Macron in which the French leader said “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland” and offered to organise a G7 summit in Paris with Russia attending on the sidelines.But Trump was far from finished.From Air Force One he posted an altered picture of him meeting European leaders in the Oval Office — with a picture of not only the United States but Canada and Greenland covered in the stars and stripes.The original photo, taken when European leaders rushed to the White House last August with Ukrainian President Zelensky to prop up US support for Kyiv, had already been mocked in some quarters as a sign of European weakness.- ‘Great stupidity’ -While Trump’s quest to take control of Greenland is the one that has shaken the world at the start of 2026, he has also called for Canada to become the 51st US state.He followed up on the posts with an image of himself holding the American flag on an icy landscape next to a sign saying “Greenland. US Territory, Est 2026”, accompanied by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.Next in Trump’s sights was Britain, whose pride in its “special relationship” with the United States has come under fresh strain from his designs on Greenland.Trump lashed out at what he called London’s “great stupidity” for its deal to give Mauritius the Chagos Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago that is home to the key Diego Garcia US-UK military base.As recently as May, Trump had endorsed the deal after it was signed.He linked the British decision to his current obsession, saying it was “another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired”.Trump still wasn’t finished — but for a change he had something complimentary to say.His final message unveiled a private text message from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he thanked the former Dutch prime minister.Rutte, who famously referred to Trump as “Daddy” at a NATO summit last year, said in the message that he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland”.”Can’t wait to see you,” the NATO chief added. It was all in a night’s work for the US president — but it will leave the Europeans scrambling for ways to shore up the transatlantic alliance that has underpinned Western security for the past 80 years.