President Donald Trump convenes his Board of Peace on Thursday with representatives from more than 40 countries and observers from a dozen more. The inaugural meeting’s focus is reconstruction and building an international stabilization force for a war-battered Gaza, where a shaky ceasefire deal persists.
Trump says board members have pledged $5 billion for reconstruction, a fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory. Members also are expected to commit thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces, amid fears that Trump is seeking to create a rival to the United Nations.
The Latest:
UN Security Council members blast Israel’s West Bank plans on eve of Trump’s Board of Peace meeting
Members of the United Nations Security Council are calling for Gaza ceasefire deal to become permanent, and blasting Israeli efforts to expand control in the West Bank as a threat to prospects of a two-state solution. They met Wednesday on the eve of Trump’s first Board of Peace gathering to discuss the future of the Palestinian territories.
The high-level U.N. session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up after Trump announced the board’s meeting for the same day, complicating travel plans for diplomats. It is a sign of the potential for overlapping and conflicting agendas between the United Nations’ most powerful body and Trump’s broader ambitions to broker global conflicts, which have raised concerns in some countries that it may attempt to rival the U.N. Security Council.
US trade deficit slipped to $901 billion last year amid Trump tariffs
The U.S. trade deficit slipped modestly in 2025 as Trump upended global commerce by slapping double digit tariffs on imports from most countries.
The gap the between the goods and services the U.S. sells other countries and what it buys from them narrowed to just over $901 billion from $904 billion in 2024, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Exports rose 6% last year, and imports rose nearly 5%. The trade gap surged from January-March as U.S. companies tried to import foreign goods ahead of Trump’s taxes, then narrowed most of the rest of the year.
Trump’s tariffs are a tax paid by U.S. importers and often passed along to their customers as higher prices. But they haven’t had as much impact on inflation as economists originally expected. Trump argues that the tariffs will protect U.S. industries, bringing manufacturing back to America and raising money for the U.S. Treasury.
Countries that have said they’ll join
Include Argentina, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kosovo, Morocco, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
See the full list of countries that have joined, opted out or haven’t decided.
Trump’s vision for the board
It has morphed since the group was initiated as part of the president’s 20-point peace plan to end the conflict in Gaza. Since the October ceasefire, Trump wants it to have an even more ambitious remit — one that will not only complete the Herculean task of bringing lasting peace between Israel and Hamas but will also help resolve conflicts around the globe.
How to disarm Hamas
These questions are central to the discussions. A key demand of Israel and a cornerstone of the ceasefire deal is the creation of an armed international stabilization force to keep security and ensure the disarmament of the militant Hamas group.
Thus far, only Indonesia has offered a firm commitment to Trump for the proposed force. And Hamas has provided little confidence that it is willing to move forward on disarmament.
