US ‘wants nations to pay $1 billion to stay on peace board’

A draft charter sent to about 60 countries by the US administration calls for members to contribute $1 billion in cash if they want their membership to last more than three years, according to the document seen by Reuters.

“Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman,” the document, first reported by Bloomberg News, shows.

“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.”

US President Donald Trump would serve as its inaugural chairman and each member state shall serve a term of no more than three years from this charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the chairman, the report said.

The panel, known as the Gaza executive board, notably includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Qatari official and was announced by the White House on Friday.

The Board of Peace began to take shape on Saturday as the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina, Canada Pakistan were asked to join.

The White House called the report “misleading” and said there is no minimum membership fee to join the “Board of Peace”.

“This simply offers permanent membership to partner countries who demonstrate deep commitment to peace, security, and prosperity,” the White House said on X. 

The US State Department responded to Reuters’ question on the matter by referring to previous social media posts about the board by Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Jordan’s foreign ministry said yesterday that King Abdullah received an invitation from President Trump to join the board. Pakistan has been invited to be a part of the “Board of Peace”, the Foreign Office said yesterday.