President Donald Trump convened his Board of Peace on Thursday with representatives from more than 40 countries and observers from a dozen more. The inaugural meeting’s focus is reconstruction and building an international stabilization force for a war-battered Gaza, where a shaky ceasefire deal persists.

Trump says board members have pledged $5 billion for reconstruction, a fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory. Members also are expected to commit thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces, amid fears that Trump is seeking to create a rival to the United Nations.

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US stabilization force leader plans 12,000 police and 20,000 soldiers for Gaza

Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the leader of the newly-created International Stabilization Force, announced that Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have all pledged troops to the effort. In addition, Egypt and Jordan, which border the Gaza Strip, have agreed to train the police and security forces.

“With these first steps, we help bring the security that Gaza needs for a future of prosperity and enduring peace,” Jeffers said.

An arts panel made up of Trump appointees unanimously approves his ballroom

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts unanimously approved Trump’s proposal, despite raising concerns at the panel’s January meeting. Some commissioners had questioned the lead architect about its “immense” design and scale, roughly twice the size of the White House itself.

Trump’s demolition of the East Wing prompted a public outcry when it began without the independent reviews, congressional approval and public comment typical for even relatively minor modifications to historic buildings in Washington.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued in federal court to halt construction. And the project is scheduled for additional discussion at a March 5 meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, now led by one of Trump’s top aides.

Vance tries to sell Board of Peace as a win for the US

The vice president nodded to domestic politics heading into the midterm elections in his brief statement to the board.

“The reason that we’re here today is yes to save lives and yes to promote peace, but this creates incredible prosperity for the American people,” Vance said.

He said the countries represented on the board represent “trillions of dollars of investment” in the U.S., and support millions of American jobs by buying goods made in America.

The direct line between the Board of Peace and the U.S. economy is not completely clear. Trump’s trade war has strained economic relations with several major U.S. allies.

Trump says Board of Peace will be ‘looking over’ UN

The Republican president repeated his concerns and criticism of the United Nations during his Board of Peace meeting, saying the UN should have been more involved in conflict-solving than it has been.

But, Trump also said that the U.S. is going “to be working with the United Nations very close.”

“Someday I won’t be here. The United Nations will be, I think, is going to be much stronger,” he said. “The Board of Peace is gonna almost be looking over the United Nations, and making sure it runs properly.”

Trump says US pledges $10 billion to the Board of Peace

Trump also announced the U.S. is pledging $10 billion for the Board of Peace, but didn’t specify what the money will be used for.

“The Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built, starting right here in this room,” Trump said.

Trump announces 9 countries pledging a combined $7 billion to Gaza relief package

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait are the countries that are making pledges, Trump said.

“But every dollar spent is an investment in stability and the hope of new and harmonious (region),” said Trump in thanking the donors.

The amount, while significant, represents a fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory decimated after two years of war.

Trump says ‘good talks are being had’ with Iran despite massive US buildup

Shouting out all of the various conflicts he says he solved, Trump mentioned that Iran is “a hot spot right now.” He said his envoys have had “very interesting” meetings with Iranian officials.

His positive comments come as the two adversaries have leaned into gunboat diplomacy in recent weeks, with nuclear talks between the nations hanging in the balance, Tehran holding drills with Russia and the Americans bringing another aircraft carrier closer to the Mideast.

“It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise bad things happen,” Trump said.

Trump outlines Vance-Rubio rivalry

Trump is fueling the rivalry between the two members of his administration considered the front-runners to replace him as the GOP’s next presidential nominee: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.

Trump described Vance as “a fantastic man” and a “fantastic talent” before running through the highlights of the vice president’s education and marriage and noting that Vance “gets a little bit tough on occasion.”

The president then pivoted to Rubio, calling his leadership style “the opposite extreme. ... Marco does it with a velvet glove, but it’s a kill.”

Trump then praised Rubio’s performance at the Munich Security Conference this week, joking that if he did his job any better he’d be fired for outshining him.

Much can change in the two years before voters pick the GOP’s 2028 presidential nominee. The Constitution bars Trump from seeking a third term.

GOP governor attacked by Trump says president has a ‘tough job’

A week after Trump blasted him as a RINO, short for Republican In Name Only, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt struck a conciliatory tone toward the White House.

“Politics is tough,” Stitt said Thursday at an event sponsored by Politico at the outset of the National Governors Association’s annual meeting. “Politics has a way of just beating you down over time so I can’t imagine being president of the United States. He’s got a tough job to do.”

Stitt is the president of the NGA this year. The group, made up of governors from both parties, is typically one of the few bipartisan organizations to convene in Washington each year.

But this year’s meeting has been defined by tensions as Trump has refused to invite two Democratic governors to a business meeting at the White House. Trump said Stitt mischaracterized his position.

Trump says Rubio renamed US Institute of Peace in his honor without his knowledge

Trump says Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the driving force behind renaming the U.S. Institute of Peace the “Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace,” in a move still being contested in courts.

“Marco named it after me,” Trump said Thursday at the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace at the former USIP building. Trump said it was a surprise. Rubio is not known to have played a significant role in the renaming, although the State Department is the current custodian.

The USIP was created as an independent entity by Congress in 1984, a status Trump sought to revoke last year when the building was seized from its leadership and nearly all of its employees fired. The changes remain subject to litigation.

Trump uses Board of Peace opening to ‘endorse foreign leaders’

In one of many tangents, Trump used his speech at the Board of Peace meeting to reinforce his support for various foreign leaders who are facing or were recently facing a contested election in their country. Many of the endorsements are part of Trump’s pattern of embracing autocratic leaders who are part of a global pushback against democratic traditions.

“I’m not supposed to be endorsing people, but I endorse, when I like people. You know, I’ve had a very good record of endorsing candidates within the United States, but now I endorse foreign leaders, including Viktor Orbán, who’s here,” Trump said, mentioning also Milei and the prime minister of Japan.

Governors meet in Washington, eager to push past Trump’s partisan grip

While Trump convenes his Board of Peace, the nation’s governors also are gathering in Washington. Their annual gathering has traditionally been a show of bipartisanship. Trump disrupted norms by not inviting all governors to meetings at the White House.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, joined Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, both Republicans, in opening this year’s National Governors Association on a panel where they emphasized bipartisanship, regardless of Trump’s actions.

The break with tradition reflects Trump’s broader approach in his second term. He has taken a confrontational stance toward some state leaders, withholding federal funds from states that draw his ire and deploying federal troops to cities over the objections of local officials.

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Trump calls out major US allies who have not yet joined BoP: ‘they’re playing cute’

Despite the presence Thursday of dozens of world leaders, Trump noted that many countries — including the U.K., France and Canada — have chosen to not yet accept the invitation to the Board of Peace.

President Donald Trump speaks during a Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“Almost everybody’s accepted, and the ones that haven’t, will be. And some are playing a little cute — it doesn’t work. You can’t play cute with me,” Trump said. “But, this is the most prestigious board ever put together.”

Trump opens Board of Peace meeting, calls it ‘one of the most important’ things he’s done

In his opening remarks, Trump welcomes the dozens of world leaders in attendance and says many of them have become “incredible friends of mine.”

“Board of Peace is one of the most important and consequential things, I think, that I’ll be involved in,” the second-term president said.

Trump and Board of Peace members take ‘family photo’ ahead of inaugural meeting

Trump and other world leaders have arrived at the first meeting of the Board of Peace.

Flanked by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump stood in front of leaders from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Qatar, among others, to take a group photo before discussing the various parts of the president’s peace plan for Gaza.

A number of world leaders, including Argentina’s Javier Milei, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and others carried red hats with the emblem “USA” and an American flag on the side, and put them on the tables next to their country signs.

Tariffs paid by midsized US firms tripled last year, new study shows

The new research tied to one of America’s leading banks provides more evidence that Trump ’s push to charge higher taxes on imports is causing economic disruption.

The additional taxes have meant that companies that employ a combined 48 million people in the U.S. — the kinds of businesses Trump had promised to revive — have had to absorb the new expense by passing it along to customers in the form of higher prices, employing fewer workers or accepting lower profits.

“That’s a big change in their cost of doing business,” said Chi Mac, business research director of the JPMorganChase Institute, which published the analysis on Thursday.

The research adds to a growing body of economic analyses that counter the administration’s claims that foreigners pay the tariffs.

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Vatican says the UN should remain paramount

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters earlier this week that “at the international level it should above all be the U.N. that manages these crisis situations.”

The Trump administration on Wednesday pushed back: “This president has a very bold and ambitious plan and vision to rebuild and reconstruct Gaza, which is well underway because of the Board of Peace,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “This is a legitimate organization where there are tens of member countries from around the world.”

And Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said board is “not talking, it is doing.”

“We are hearing the chattering class criticizing the structure of the board, that it’s unconventional, that it’s unprecedented,” Waltz said. “Again, the old ways were not working.”

Trump has stoked concerns that his board aims to rival the United Nations

Trump said this week he hopes the board would push the U.N. to “get on the ball.”

“The United Nations has great potential,” he said. “They haven’t lived up to the potential.”

US fine arts commission is expected to advance Trump’s White House ballroom proposal

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts is one of two federal panels reviewing the president’s plans to build a ballroom twice the size of the White House itself on the site of the former East Wing.

The commission, now led by Trump’s appointees, is scheduled to further discuss the project at its monthly meeting on Thursday, held over Zoom.

At last month’s meeting, some of those commissioners questioned the architect about the “immense” design and scale of the project even as they broadly endorsed the president’s vision for the massive expansion.

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UN Security Council members blast Israel’s West Bank plans on eve of Trump’s Board of Peace meeting

Members of the United Nations Security Council are calling for Gaza ceasefire deal to become permanent, and blasting Israeli efforts to expand control in the West Bank as a threat to prospects of a two-state solution. They met Wednesday on the eve of Trump’s first Board of Peace gathering to discuss the future of the Palestinian territories.

The high-level U.N. session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up after Trump announced the board’s meeting for the same day, complicating travel plans for diplomats. It is a sign of the potential for overlapping and conflicting agendas between the United Nations’ most powerful body and Trump’s broader ambitions to broker global conflicts, which have raised concerns in some countries that it may attempt to rival the U.N. Security Council.

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US trade deficit slipped to $901 billion last year amid Trump tariffs

The U.S. trade deficit slipped modestly in 2025 as Trump upended global commerce by slapping double digit tariffs on imports from most countries.

The gap the between the goods and services the U.S. sells other countries and what it buys from them narrowed to just over $901 billion from $904 billion in 2024, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Exports rose 6% last year, and imports rose nearly 5%. The trade gap surged from January-March as U.S. companies tried to import foreign goods ahead of Trump’s taxes, then narrowed most of the rest of the year.

Trump’s tariffs are a tax paid by U.S. importers and often passed along to their customers as higher prices. But they haven’t had as much impact on inflation as economists originally expected. Trump argues that the tariffs will protect U.S. industries, bringing manufacturing back to America and raising money for the U.S. Treasury.

Countries that have said they’ll join

Include Argentina, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kosovo, Morocco, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

See the full list of countries that have joined, opted out or haven’t decided.

Trump’s vision for the board

It has morphed since the group was initiated as part of the president’s 20-point peace plan to end the conflict in Gaza. Since the October ceasefire, Trump wants it to have an even more ambitious remit — one that will not only complete the Herculean task of bringing lasting peace between Israel and Hamas but will also help resolve conflicts around the globe.

How to disarm Hamas

These questions are central to the discussions. A key demand of Israel and a cornerstone of the ceasefire deal is the creation of an armed international stabilization force to keep security and ensure the disarmament of the militant Hamas group.

Thus far, only Indonesia has offered a firm commitment to Trump for the proposed force. And Hamas has provided little confidence that it is willing to move forward on disarmament.