Trump’s Board of Peace schedules inaugural leaders meeting in Washington

A U.S. government official confirmed that President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is scheduled to hold its inaugural leaders meeting in Washington on Feb. 19, a gathering described by organizers as a fundraising conference tied to plans for Gaza reconstruction. Officials cautioned the timetable and format remain tentative and could yet change.

Two Trump administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting has not been formally announced and its agenda is still being determined, said the session is intended as both a leaders meeting and a donor event to marshal funds and political backing for the territory’s redevelopment and security. One administration official said the organizers expected “robust” participation, but it is not yet clear which heads of state will attend.

An invitation obtained by The Associated Press names the U.S. Institute of Peace as the planned venue. AP reporting says the building is “now known as the Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace, pending an ongoing legal battle with the former leadership of the nonprofit think tank,” and that the administration “seized the facility last year and fired almost all the institute’s staff.” The legal status of that rebranding and the institutional takeover remains the subject of dispute.

The meeting is expected to bring together world leaders who accepted Trump’s outreach in January and members of a Gaza executive committee charged by the administration with overseeing governance, security and redevelopment. Newsweek has published lists it describes as a founding Executive Board and a Gaza executive committee. Those lists, which have not been confirmed by the White House, include officials and private sector figures said to be on the founding Executive Board such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, CEO of Apollo Global Management Marc Rowan, President of the World Bank Group Ajay Banga and deputy national security advisor Robert Gabriel Jr. Reported Gaza executive committee members include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi, Egyptian intelligence director General Hassan Rashad, UAE minister Reem Al-Hashimy, Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay, Bulgarian politician Nickolay Mladenov and U.N. humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag.

Diplomatic reaction to the Board’s creation has been mixed. Some Middle Eastern partners have accepted invitations, while many traditional Western allies have stayed at arm’s length, raising questions about the new body’s mandate and relationship with established multilateral institutions. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot cautioned in January, “Yes to implementing the peace plan presented by the president of the United States, which we wholeheartedly support, but no to creating an organization as it has been presented, which would replace the United Nations.”

Reuters reported that plans were “in early stages and could still change,” and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House on Feb. 18, a day before the planned leaders meeting. The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump launched the Board of Peace in late January and has said he will chair the initiative, casting it as an effort to resolve global conflicts even as its initial focus on Gaza appears to be broadening. For now, the initiative sits at the intersection of geopolitics, philanthropy and institutional strain, testing whether a U.S.-led body can marshal international cooperation without displacing established actors such as the United Nations.