Trump and Rubio suggest leveraging Board of Peace to mediate international conflicts
US President Trump and top diplomat Rubio signal the board's scope extends beyond the Palestinian territory, and could "serve as a model for other complex and difficult situations."
Washington DC — On Thursday, when President Donald Trump convened the first Board of Peace meeting to address Gaza's reconstruction and stabilisation, securing pledges of over $17 billion, Trump and his top diplomat Marco Rubio both signalled that the board's scope extended beyond the Palestinian territory.
Laying out the "strategic vision" of the Board of Peace, Rubio told the leaders and representatives from more than 45 countries, that situation in Gaza "was impossible to solve under orthodoxy, under existing structures."
"And so what we did is they went to the UN and they got the UN's approval to put this group together and bring these nations together to come up with a very specific solution – solutions – to a very unique and specific problem."
The top US diplomat hoped the Board of Peace can serve as a broader platform for mediating international conflicts.
"I hope that this (board) can serve as a model for other complex and difficult situations so they can be solved in the same way, but right now the focus is on this one (Gaza)."
The Board of Peace, formed in January 2026, initially tied to oversee Gaza's peace plan and reconstruction after the 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which Israel keeps violating.
Its charter, however, allows a wider purpose to foster stability and lasting peace in conflict zones globally, not just Gaza.
'We will do things like that in other spots'
Trump who welcomed the "powerful people" who joined the board, vowed Gaza will be made "successful" and "peaceful", indicating that this model of intervention would be applied elsewhere.
"We will do things like that in other spots. Spots will come up, things will happen," said Trump, who said he "settled eight wars and a ninth to come" in his first year of second term.
"Some of the wars were 32 years long, 32, 34 to 37. That’s a long time. We ended in about two days, each one of those."
Trump's assertion of solving "eight wars" in a year involves a combination of complete ceasefires, agreements, and ongoing disputes.
The list he frequently cites includes conflicts such as Armenia–Azerbaijan, Democratic Republic of Congo–Rwanda, Israel–Iran, India–Pakistan, Thailand–Cambodia, and the Israel–Hamas ceasefire in Gaza — which the Board of Peace is currently attempting to make permanent — as well as Egypt–Ethiopia, and Serbia–Kosovo.
While laying the strategic vision of the board, the US president referred to the Board of Peace as the most consequential board, stating, "In terms of power and prestige, there has never been anything close."
Trump also used the event to retract some UN criticisms and pledged US funds for UN repairs, while positioning Board of Peace as a supervisory entity, saying it would "almost be looking over the United Nations" to ensure it "runs properly," provides better facilities, and gets necessary funding.
"We are going to strengthen up the United Nations. We’re going to make sure its facilities are good… we’re going to help them money-wise, and we’re going to make sure the United Nations is viable. I think the United Nations has great potential, really great potential. It has not lived up to [that] potential."