Donald Trump promised that his pet project, the “Board of Peace,” would use money from member states to rebuild Gaza after a months-long bombing campaign that destroyed infrastructure and took the lives of tens of thousands. Initially, member states had promised $7 billion, with an additional $10 billion expected to come from US funding — but a little over six months after the BoP was mandated, the reality has shown that nothing is clear about its plans so far.
The charter was officially signed on Jan. 22, 2026. Only a month later, Trump waged war on Iran alongside Israel. The disastrous short-term consequences of that war have made Trump increasingly suspicious to his own base, which is now going through every promise he ever made with a fine-tooth comb. Especially the promises that came with financial guarantees and grand declarations about making the world a better place.
The first year of Trump’s second term was filled with an incessant campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize while also pulling out of major UN programs. The Board of Peace was meant to fulfill these Trump 2.0 ambitions in one fell swoop — he could enforce global peace through his own intergovernmental organization. Trump invited 60 nations and expected each member to contribute $1 billion into a fund that would be fully controlled by him. Some nations accepted the invitation, some rejected it, but only nine member states agreed to contribute $7 billion to the board’s fund, which was set up by the World Bank.
According to the Financial Times, “Zero dollars have been deposited.” That’s not to say no money has been sent by member states, however. According to the board’s spokesperson and another source familiar with the board, the BoP opted to forgo the fund that had been set up by the World Bank and instead received donations directly into its JPMorgan Chase account.
Even though the United Nations is not directly involved in this Gaza rebuilding program, it had previously endorsed the fund being run through the World Bank. This is because the World Bank is required to report on the financial position of the Gaza fund to contributors and board members. JPMorgan has no such transparency requirements. While the board has not given any clear explanation for opting for a murkier alternative, one official simply said, “At this point, contributors have opted to use other options.”
The Board of Peace has made yet another promise that it will release its financial report “at a time deemed appropriate.” There have, however, been some droplets of information about where the money donated to rebuild the lives of Palestinians in Gaza has gone so far. Reports revealed that Morocco contributed $20 million, which went toward funding the office of the High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov. The United Arab Emirates also contributed $100 million to train a police force in Gaza, but those funds have reportedly been frozen.
The US State Department intends to reallocate $1.2 billion in aid toward the board’s agenda. A congressional aide was quick to clarify that none of that money would actually be managed by the Board of Peace itself. The BoP spokesperson said there is currently no trusted authority on the ground “to handle the flow of services and goods that are imagined as part of the plan.” It turns out the UN’s job is not that easy after all.
Published: May 27, 2026 11:16 pm