The Board of Peace will oversee the Palestinian technocratic committee.
President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs on French wines and champagne if French President Emmanuel Macron decides not to join the U.S.-led Board of Peace on Gaza.
When asked about France joining the board, Trump said: “That’s alright. What I’ll do is if they feel like [being] hostile, I’ll put a 200 percent tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join,” Trump said.
The French president has not publicly commented on Trump’s remarks or issued an official statement to confirm whether he will join Trump’s board of peace.
Macron is due in Davos on Jan. 20 before a scheduled return to Paris in the evening. France will hold an election to replace Macron in 2027.
Trump had earlier announced that he would impose a 10 percent tariff on imports from France and seven other European nations next month in response to their opposition to the U.S. bid to acquire Greenland for national security reasons. The tariff will increase to 25 percent on June 1, Trump said in a Jan. 17 post on Truth Social.
The Board of Peace, to be chaired by Trump, is part of phase two of a U.S.-backed cease-fire agreement between Israel and terrorist group Hamas to end the war in Gaza.
The board will oversee the Palestinian technocratic committee, which is called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and is led by former Palestinian Authority official Ali Abdel Hamid Sha’ath.
Australia, Pakistan, Jordan, Paraguay, Argentina, Vietnam, Hungary, and India are among the nations whose leaders have been invited, but whether all will join the board is yet to be confirmed.
The Kremlin said on Jan. 19 that Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to join the board, and Moscow is reviewing the details of the proposal.
Trump confirmed the invitation on Jan. 20, telling reporters in Miami: “Yes. He’s one of the people. These are world leaders, and the answer is yes.”
The president also named U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, private equity executive Marc Rowan, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, and U.S. national security adviser Robert Gabriel as the board’s founding executive members.
The White House said that each member will be tasked with managing Gaza’s “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization,” which it said are vital to the enclave’s stability and long-term success.
