President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" has barely kicked off, and his administration is already being rebuked by countries for falsely claiming they are part of it.
At the signing establishing the organization, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the founding members — and included Belgium as part of the list. On Thursday morning, however, Belgium's foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, clarified on X that this wasn't true.
"Belgium has NOT signed the Charter of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect," wrote Prévot. "We wish for a common and coordinated European response. As many European countries, we have reservations to the proposal."
The Board of Peace was pitched to foreign nations by the Trump administration as an international organization that would oversee peaceful transition and redevelopment of Gaza, following the brutal two-year war between Israel and Hamas.
However, experts were alarmed to discover when reading the charter of the organization that, not only did it not specifically mention Gaza, it appears to be structured as a long-term alternative to the United Nations, that if it gained significant membership, would effectively make Trump "king of the world" and give him incredible powers to dictate world diplomacy.
So far, very few of the countries that have actually signed on to the new organization are significant world or even regional powers, and the vast majority of European countries are refusing to touch it.
