The Kremlin on Sunday announced that dictator Vladimir Putin was nominated to US President Donald Trump’s newly created ‘Board of Peace.” Moscow responded favorably to the idea.
After that, Putin’s puppet president in Minsk, Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who has held office since 1994 despite democratic elections to the contrary, said he’d be willing to serve on this vaunted board too.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, along with 50 other world leaders, was also reportedly invited, but after a meeting with his top advisers to discuss Trump’s “Board of Peace” for Gaza, Israel said it was not included in talks about the makeup of one of the board’s lower bodies.
Netanyahu’s office has since said this was “not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy.”
But on Monday, France put an end to the charades initiated by an American president who has been passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize, despite Trump’s campaigning for it, declining the invitation to French Preident Emanuel Macron to participate.
France “does not intend to answer favorably” to an invitation to join Trump’s “Board of Peace,” a source close to Macron told AFP on Monday.
After Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump during a meeting at the White House, saying it was a recognition of his commitment to her country’s freedom, the Nobel committee confirmed that such a transfer of the medal does not equate to merit for the award.
In another cringeworthy moment, the international governing board of world soccer, FIFA, presented Trump with a newly minted peace trophy to quell the autocrat’s anger about not receiving the bigger prize, leading up to the president’s hosting of the soccer World Cup in the summer of 2026.
The US on Saturday named the first members of the Gaza Executive Board - including Turkey’s foreign minister, a Qatari official, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The so-called “Peace Board” was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of war-torn Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.
Its charter “goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza,” AFP quoted the source close to the French president as saying.
“It raises major questions, particularly regarding respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations, which under no circumstances can be called into question,” the source added.
Poland’s government has warned President Karol Nawrocki against participating in the “Board of Peace,” noting that such a decision would require approval from both the government and parliament.
The French ministry added it was reviewing the proposed legal framework of the board with its partners, raising concern that the “project extends beyond the situation in Gaza.”
The source close to the French president however noted that France “remains fully committed to a ceasefire in Gaza and to a credible political horizon for Palestinians and Israelis.”
Trump has made numerous public remarks saying he has “ended eight international conflicts” and deserves the medal. Indeed, he sent a text to the Prime Minister of Norway, blaming him for such a decision by the independent board:
“Dear Jonas,” he wrote: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only a boat that landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT.”