President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” has faced fresh ridicule after it emerged that nearly half of the countries on it are banned from entering the US under his travel ban.
Trump unveiled his alternative to the United Nations with great ceremony on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He welcomed representatives from several countries on to the stage and said he was “friends” with all of them.
They included Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.
Notably absent from the address were any European countries amid reports that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had been invited to join.
But earlier this year the American leader imposed an even more stringent travel ban to restrict immigration and entry into the US. The administration indefinitely suspended immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries – and many of them are on his Board of Peace.
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Armenia, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan are all subject to the restrictions on immigrant visas, raising questions about the efficacy of the initiative that he said “has the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created”.
The Board emerged following Trump’s involvement in a US-brokered deal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and members are expected to contribute $1bn to join.
His son-in-law Jared Kushner unveiled bizarre new pictures of a New Gaza at the opening of the board, which featured a data centre, luxury apartments and “coastal tourism”.
The presentation contained CGI-generated images of luxury apartments and data centres, as well as plans to build more than 100,000 housing units and 75 medical facilities.
Former prime minister Tony Blair was controversially named as a member of the board, which will be chaired by Trump himself.
“When America booms, the entire world booms,” the president told the gathering. “This board has the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created and it’s my enormous honour to serve as its chairman.”
He explained: “The board of peace is composed of the top leaders in the world, actually. Last October, we released a plan for the permanent end to the conflict in Gaza – and I’m pleased to say that our vision was unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council.”
The American leader said the peace board would ensure that Gaza is demilitarised. His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, added that it would also be a “board of action”.
The new plans appeared to mirror an AI-generated video released last year of the war-torn strip transformed into a “riviera” and featuring Mr Trump and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.
