Key Points
- Donald Trump inaugurated his "Board of Peace" with a pledge of US$10 billion from the US.
- The new institution's ultimate mission has drawn questions due to its opaque nature.
United States President Donald Trump has promised US$10 billion ($14.2 billion) and Muslim-majority nations offered funding and troops for Gaza as he inaugurated his so-called 'Board of Peace', a new institution whose ultimate mission has drawn questions.
Trump later said Iran must make a "meaningful deal" in negotiations with the US in the next 10 days, or else "bad things happen", as he deployed warships, fighter jets and other military hardware to the region.
"It's proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen," Trump told the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace — his initiative to secure stability in Gaza.
He warned that the US "may have to take it a step further" without any agreement, adding: "You're going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days."
Trump's comments came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his own warning to Iran, saying "If the ayatollahs make a mistake and attack us, they will receive a response they cannot even imagine".
The warnings were issued days after the US and Iran held a second round of Omani-mediated talks, this time in Geneva, Switzerland, with the US seeking to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, something it says it's not pursuing, and Iran seeking relief from US sanctions.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned on Wednesday there were "many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against Iran".
"Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump."
Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran, at first over a deadly crackdown on protesters last month, then more recently over its nuclear program.
Iran's atomic energy chief on Thursday said "no country can deprive Iran of the right" to nuclear enrichment, following fresh US warnings that there were "many reasons" to strike the Islamic Republic.
A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran last June, beginning a 12-day war that the US briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.
Presiding with a gavel over the meeting in the gleaming Washington building of the former US Institute of Peace, which was renamed after the 79-year-old Republican, Trump hailed the "powerful people" who joined his board.
Trump, who has sharply curtailed foreign aid, said the US would contribute US$10 billion ($14.2 billion) to the board.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates each promised at least US$1 billion ($1.4 billion).
Leavitt said more than US$6.5 billion ($9.2 billion) was pledged, presumably excluding Trump's offer.
Trump didn't explain exactly where the money would go and whether Congress had approved the contribution he announced for the institution, which has drawn criticism for its opaque nature.
Trump will wield veto power over the Board of Peace and can remain its head even after leaving office, while countries that want to stay on permanently, rather than enjoy a two-year stint, will need to pay US$1 billion ($1.4 billion).
Troop pledges
The board came together after the Trump administration, teaming up with Qatar and Egypt, negotiated a ceasefire in October to halt two years of devastating war in Gaza.
The plan's second phase calls for the disarmament of Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel triggered the massive offensive.
In a first for an Arab country, Morocco announced it was ready to send police as well as officers to the nascent International Stabilisation Force.
The force's US commander, Major General Jasper Jeffers, said that Albania, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Kosovo were also sending troops, and announced that an Indonesian officer would serve as his deputy.
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, earlier said it was ready to send 8,000 troops, nearly half of the 20,000 sought.
Trump hailed Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who attended, calling the former military officer accused of human rights abuses in East Timor a "tough cookie".
Nickolay Mladenov, a veteran Bulgarian diplomat named high representative for Gaza by the US, also announced the beginning of recruitment for a post-Hamas police force in Gaza, and said 2,000 people had applied in the first hours.
Despite the truce, Gaza's health ministry says Israeli forces have killed at least 601 people since it took effect.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar demanded disarmament of Hamas and "a fundamental deradicalisation process" in Gaza.
Mixed attendance
In a speech, Trump denounced domestic opponents, highlighted stock market gains and endorsed the political fortunes of several leaders on stage, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Argentinian President Javier Milei.
He also issued a new warning to Iran of potential US strikes in 10 days if the clerical state doesn't agree to major concessions, starting with its nuclear program.
Few Western nations joined the board. Britain and Germany sent their ambassadors to Washington as observers, while Canada and France shunned the meeting entirely.
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot criticised the European Commission for attending as an observer, saying it didn't have a mandate to do so.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, a steadfast US ally, dismissed European concerns that Trump was trying to "replace the UN", to which he drastically cut US support.
"But if it helps shake that agonising giant and, Inshallah, wake it up, then God bless the Board of Peace."
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