First Board of Peace Meeting

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Marc Rowan (20:50):

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Vice President of the United States, J.D Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and the executive board member Jared Kushner.

(21:22)
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

Donald Trump (21:28):

Well, thank you very much. This is a big day and lots of people watching and ... Especially from other countries, the leaders of, as you know, the other countries, because we have a large group of leaders, and the ones that aren't here are watching on Zoom. I hope they enjoy it. And the press, we appreciate it very much so respectful ... You've been so respectful of what we're doing. What we're doing is very simple. Peace. It's called the Board of Peace. And it's all about ... An easy word to say, but a hard word to produce, peace. But we're going to produce it and we've been doing a really good job. And some of these leaders that are with us have helped me very much during just this first year. We have a first year like probably no other ever in our country because we settled eight wars and I think a ninth to come. It's turned out to be a tougher one. I thought that was going to be the easiest one. But with war, you never know what's easy and what's not so easy.

(22:49)
But we've had a great relationship and I've become friendly with so many of the people and I appreciate you being here. These are great people. These are great leaders. And the people that are watching by closed circuit and open circuit, in many cases, they're so proud of it. They want it to be open. But they become incredible friends of mine.

(23:11)
And we built our country in my first term and now we're at a point that the United States has never seen before. We broke 50,000 on the Dow. They said that would take four years. We broke 7,000 on the S&P. They said you couldn't do that within four years. It would be impossible. And when I came in, they were all saying if you could get to anywhere close to 40, 45,000, it would be amazing achievement over four years. Well, we hit 50,000 in the first year and we hit 7,000, which was actually tougher to do according to the Wall Street geniuses. We hit 7,000 in the first year. They said it could take four or five years. They'd be very happy. It would've been a great job. We did it in one, but we're doing a great job.

(24:01)
Board of Peace is one of the most important and consequential things I think that I'll be involved in. We've been involved in a lot and really I've been involved in a lot with the people up here. We worked together on ending wars with their country. Some of the wars were 32 years long, 32, 34 and 37. That's a long time. And we ended it in about two days, each one of those. But we have some other work to do and we're getting it done.

(24:34)
Gaza is very complex. It's been amazing. I want to thank Steve and Jared for an amazing job. Marco's over there watching everybody's fantastic, and JD, what a job they're all doing, this team. I think it's the best team ever assembled and you see that by the results.

(24:54)
So today is a tremendous honor to welcome you all to the United States Institute of Peace for the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace. Very important. I believe it's the most consequential board, certainly in terms of power and in terms of prestige, there's never been anything close because these are the greatest world leaders. Almost everybody's accepted and the ones that haven't will be. Some are playing a little cute. It doesn't work. You can't play cute with me. But they're playing a little bit, but they're all joining. Everybody. Most of them very immediately. A few that we really don't want because they're trouble. Take care of them.

(25:41)
But this is the most prestigious board ever put together. I've seen some great corporate boards, I've seen some great boards, period. It's peanuts compared to this board, because we have virtually everyone is the head of a country other than Johnny, but he's the head of soccer, so that's not so bad. Right, Johnny? I like your job the best, I think. And by the way, your World Cup has set every single ticket record in the history of soccer and the history ... Nobody's ever seen anything like it. The sales are virtually complete. Nobody's ever seen anything. So congratulations. You made a good decision. We did it together. Thank you Johnny. Great guy.

(26:25)
So I want to thank the many leaders and dignitaries who have traveled great distances and lengths for the important gathering that we're at right now. This building was built for peace and nobody knew what to name it ... And then Marco named it after me. I had nothing to with it. I swear I didn't. I swear I had no idea. They said there's a surprise coming. I didn't know the surprise. I thought they were going to give me a lot of money or something. Maybe cash. Can always use some extra cash. But I came and they stopped the beautiful beast. I got out very safely, I'm sure, and looked up and there it said Donald J. Trump on the building. And when I say that that had nothing to ... Nobody believes it, and that's okay. But I appreciated it. That was Marco and JD and a group got together and they did that. And I just thought it was very nice, and it makes me work harder.

(27:19)
We're going to have to work harder. We're going to have to make this building much more important. They built it's brand new. They built it for peace, but nobody occupied it. Nobody knew what the purpose of it, but the architecture is so beautiful. And it was with the meeting rooms, the reception rooms. It's really amazing. Who would think that it was built without anybody in mind or anything in mind, and then the State Department took it over. They liked it. Marco came over one day. He saw this, but he said, "This building is great," and he actually claimed it, right? He claimed it. And that's what he does. Where is Marco? Marco, is that true? You claimed this building. You took it away from about five groups that wanted it. That was done very quickly, very methodically, but it was really, really built so beautifully and such a beautiful building.

(28:10)
But we worked together to ensure the brighter future for the people of Gaza, the Middle East and the entire world. I think that the Board of Peace, because it's mostly leaders and unbelievably respected people, but mostly leaders of Middle Eastern countries, countries from all over the world, and they've been very generous with money also. And the United States, which I'll say in a moment, is also very generous with money because there's nothing more important than peace.

(28:42)
And there's nothing less expensive than peace. When you go to wars, it costs you a hundred times what it costs to make peace. We have a man at the end right there that's smiling because you learned that after 30 years of fighting, right? 30 years of fighting. We got it done. I want to thank you very much. That was the great thing you did. You and your new friend, they came to my office and they said, "I've been fighting for 22 years. Now you're there for 23 years. But I've been fighting for 22 years. That's all I've done is fight this gentleman. And his counterpart was there for seven years. He said, "I've been there for seven years. All I've done is fight this gentleman," and we had it worked out in about 24 hours and it's been a good piece of that. I think they've become friends. I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that, but I think so. I think they become friends, right? Great.

(29:36)
Stand up. Stand up. These are two tough cookies too. You think that was easy? It wasn't easy? These are two tough people. Good people, but tough people. But we're in the Oval Office and we were getting near, but the one was at one side of the room. I have two chairs right in front of the desk, the beautiful resolute desk. One's over here, one's on the other side of the room. I said, "Folks, could you get a little closer?" Well, they felt very uncomfortable. They'd been killing each other for 32 years. So I say, can you get a little closer? After one hour, they were right next to each other. We made a deal, they hugged, they signed, and we had peace with two very important countries and I'll never forget it. So they started off a little weak and they ended up really strong. And you can be very proud of yourselves. It was a beautiful thing to see. Thank you. Look at that. Can you believe it? 32 years. Thank you. Thank you very much.

(30:48)
But we're honored to be joined today by Prime Minister Rama of Albania. President ... Where is President Milei? You're another one. I'll tell you. Where is President Milei? I endorsed him. I'm not supposed to be endorsing people, but I endorsed ... When I like people ... I've had a very good record of endorsing candidates within the United States, but now I endorse foreign leaders, including Viktor Orban, who's here, and others. And I endorsed this gentleman Milei. He was a little behind in the polls. He ended up winning in a landslide. I just endorsed the Prime Minister of Japan. She was in a tight race, but was probably going to win. And she won the largest number in the history of Japan. So she likes me a lot, but it was an honor.

(31:40)
And you're doing ... Oh look, they're sitting right next ... Viktor. I think ... But ultimately I think I'm going to end up endorsing ... Hey look, as long as it works, it's okay with me. But the endorsement seems to be working in foreign countries too, so that's good. But nice to have you both. Viktor, nice to have you both. Very proud of you.

(31:57)
The prime minister of another ... Really just a great guy. Pashinyan of Armenia. President Aliyev of Azerbaijan. I love saying that name now. At the beginning it was giving me a hard time. Now I love saying it. It's a beautiful name. I love it. His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain. Thank you. Thank you. Where are you? Where are you? He's so rich he can sit there. He can sit wherever the hell he wants. He could sit up in the corner. He could sit up top. He might take a piece of this building, Marco. He'll take 25% of the building for about six billion. Thank you. And you've been very generous also. We appreciate it.

(32:55)
Prime Minister, Hun Manet of Cambodia. Raise your hand wherever you may be because ... Yeah. Hi, how are you? Congratulations. That was another one, right? We did a good job with that one. Prime Minister Madbouly of Egypt. Thank you very much. And say hello to the general/president, okay? Prime Minister Orban of Hungary, who has my complete and total endorsement for election. Not everybody in Europe loves that endorsement, but that's okay. He does an unbelievable job. He is done an incredible job on immigration, unlike some countries that have hurt themselves that they're working on it. But I just want to let you know you have my total and complete endorsement, and I'm putting it out. I already did, but I'm putting it out again. And you're coming up with an election and I think you should be good. I'll tell you, Milei did pretty well. Who's a little down, right? And then he ended up winning

Donald Trump (34:00):

... winning in a landslide, so that's pretty good. You're going to do great, Viktor, thank you very much for being here. Appreciate it. You run a great country.

(34:10)
A man that I really like a lot is he's definitely tough. I don't want to fight him. President Prabowo of Indonesia. Thank you very much. Please. This is a big guy. I tell you. I said, "How many people in Indonesia?" He said, "Like 240 million." I said, "No, no. Say it again. How many?" It's a big country you have and you do a great job and respected by everybody and thank you very much for being here. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

(34:40)
President Tokayev of Kazakhstan. Thank you very much. What a country that is. It's a wonderful country and a rich country. In case anybody has any question. We have some very rich people here today. President Osmani of Kosovo. President, thank you very much. Great job. You're doing too. Thank you very much. Prime Minister Sharif, I like this man, of Pakistan. There was some fighting going on when I got to know him and your Field Marshal General, great general, great field marshal, a great guy, and I got to meet the Prime Minister. And he said in front of our chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who's right here, he said, "Nobody knows this, but I believe that President Trump saved 25 million lives when he stopped the war between us and India." Right? You made that statement? I said "25 million lives, could have been much more actually." But it was really a beautiful thing, you said that in front of a group of people that was, they walked out, they don't think about it, but you're talking about that kind of lives. That war was raging. Planes were being shot down.

(36:07)
It was Pakistan and India and I got on the phone with both of them and I knew them a little bit. I knew Prime Minister Modi very well actually. I got to know Pakistan through a little trade. They were trying to make too good a deal and I got a little upset with them and in the end they got what they wanted and they made a good deal and I got to like them. The Prime Minister, the Field Marshal, who's a tough man, a tough good fighter, serious fighter. I like good fighters actually. And when I heard that they were fighting, I pick up a certain newspaper, I won't tell you which one because it's fake news generally, but I picked up this newspaper and I saw that Pakistan and India were really going at it. And then it got worse and worse and many planes were shot down. It was all out.

(37:01)
And I called them and I said, "Listen, I'm not doing trade deals with you two guys if you don't settle this up." They said, "No, no, no." Because both of them they didn't want to do that. I said, "No, it has to ... If you don't do it, I'm not doing a trade deal. We're not doing a trade deal." And they do a lot of business with the United States, and they sort of softened up all of a sudden. Then all of a sudden I read where there was a little bit of a pullback by one then the other, and all of a sudden we worked out a deal. But I said, " If you fight, I'm going to put 200% tariffs on each of your countries," which essentially makes you not allowed ... You can't do any business. One of them, I won't say which one, said, "No, can't do that."

(37:46)
They both wanted to fight, but when it came to money, nothing like money, when it came to losing a lot of money, they said, "I guess we don't want to fight." And we solved that deal in two, three days and we did, we said, "These are two very powerful nations, these are two nuclear nations." And I don't want to say what was going to happen, but bad things happen. So Prime Minister, I want to thank you because that was a very big deal. People have no idea. A lot of them say, "Oh, well they weren't fighting." They were fighting. 11 jets were shot down. Very expensive jets. And they were all in, both of them were all in and now they're not. And I think we'll always be able to settle up with them. I really do. I think you're going to have ... It's a lot of progress was made even in the relationship. And Prime Minister Modi also, he's a great man. He's a great guy. They're all great. But I was very proud of it.

(38:42)
President Peña of Paraguay is here. President. President, thank you very much. Young, handsome guy. It's always nice to be young and handsome. It doesn't mean we have to like you. I don't like young, handsome men. Women, I like. Men, no, I don't have any interest.

President Peña (39:02):

[inaudible 00:39:05]

Donald Trump (39:05):

Good. That's right. That's right. Thank you very much. You're doing a great job too. His Excellency, Prime Minister Al Thani of Qatar, just a great man, please, a great man and highly respected and he's working with a man who is amazing. I always say he needs a public relations agency because you do so much good and they have you down as evil and you're not evil. You help us so much and you're such a good ally, and I just want people to know that. And the Amir is incredible, smart. Smart as you can be. A great leader. And he cares so much for the people and he cares so much for the Middle East. So I want to thank you very much and send my regards. Your country has been a great help. Surprising to some of the writing out there, but now they'll start changing their tune because it's true. I only tell the truth.

(40:02)
Prime Minister Don of Romania, wonderful people, the Romanian people are. Fantastic, fantastic people, like you're fantastic. And a lot of them come and work in this country and help us in this country, as you know. And they are just really, really solid people. President Mirziyoyev you have of Uzbekistan, who is ... Where? There he is. And a friend of mine. You've got one of the most difficult names in history, but that's okay. It doesn't matter. Your country's doing great. You're doing great. And just no problems every time I see him, "Nope, we're doing good. No problems."

(40:47)
And General Secretary To Lam of Vietnam. Vietnam is incredible as a country and as a force and it's an honor to have you, a really great honor to have you a lot of respect, a lot of respect for your country. I also want to express my gratitude to Vice President JD Vance, who is a fantastic man. He's a fantastic talent. He was a great student. He went to one school, he graduated ... Most people, if you watch some of the people that were at the event in Munich, they didn't graduate quickly from college. They had everything they could do. There was one young attractive woman, she was unable to answer questions and she didn't do so well like JD did in college. JD graduated in a four and a half year college in two years, and then he went to Yale and he graduated at the top of his class, went to the military grade.

(41:47)
But when he went to Yale, there was one person that was marginally ahead of him, so he married her. Can you believe it? He married the person that was ahead. I don't know. I always like to say JD was first and Usha was second because I get a little uncomfortable when I say that. But he's been incredible. He's a brilliant guy and a great guy and has been my friend. All of our people, we have a fantastic group of people, our cabinet members, everybody, many of them here, but JD's been great, thank you very much. He gets a little bit tough on occasion, we'll going to slow him down just a little bit on occasion. He says his mind.

(42:24)
Then we have the opposite extreme. We have your friend sitting in the back. Your best friend sitting in the back is Marco. Marco does it with a velvet glove, but it's a kill. The result is the same, they do it very differently. And Marco, you really did yourself proud two days ago in Munich. In fact, so proud that I almost terminated his employ because they were saying, "Why can't Trump do this?" I do, but I say it differently. But Marco don't do any better than you did, please, because if you do you're out of here.

(43:05)
But no, I want my guys to do great. And the acclaim he's gotten and acclaim JD gets is great. We have smart people. And when you see the representatives there like Gavin Newsom, he didn't know what he was doing. They didn't even know why. He didn't know why he was there. Or AOC, she was unable to answer a simple question and she could have said, "Well, I'm studying it and I'll report back to you next week." You can get away with that. But she just went, "Ah, ah." I think it could be a career-ending answer because for 25 years, anybody running against her, I think Susie is going to use that little piece of stuff. It was not good. It was not good. That was not a natural.

(43:54)
So I want to thank JD. I want to thank Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They're extraordinary. I want to thank Special Envoy for Peace, Steve Witkoff, who has been unbelievable. I took Steve because I was a developer in New York, really successful, actually much more successful than Steve, but I don't want to say that. I'm not going to say, Johnny, I refuse to say it, but I saw something in Steve. Steve's a great negotiator. Everybody loved him. All these developers, and they're tough. New York developers tend to be on the tough side, and most of them hate each other. A lot of the people in this room hate each other, sort of natural I guess. But we're bringing love back into the room like the old days.

(44:39)
But everybody loves Steve. Every developer, the worst, most evil people, horrible human beings actually and they love Steve. So I remember this and we had some conflicts to put it mildly in the world. And I said, "Steve, how would you like to be Henry Kissinger Jr. that doesn't leak." I said, "Are you a leaker, Steve?" " No." He didn't even know what the word meant. And it's true. I always say Henry Kissinger, who was one of the great leakers of all time, by the way, Richard Nixon said to him, "Henry, Henry, who's leaking all this stuff?" "I don't know, Mr. President." It was Henry [inaudible 00:45:14]. These are little stories I like telling you.

(45:18)
But Steve has been unbelievable. Everybody likes him. Ukraine loves him. Europe loves him. Russia loves him. I mean, there's nothing wrong with this. He goes to see President Putin, didn't know Putin. I set him up a meeting to see. I said, "How's Steve doing?" "Sir, he's still inside." Oh, that was an hour. I called back, "Tell Steve to call me when he is finished. I want to find out what the hell is going on. We want to end that war." "Sir, he's still inside." Three hours, four hours. They were together for four hours the first meeting. That's talent. And they get along. I mean, people like or don't like Putin or Zelensky, they get along. Same thing with Zelensky. I mean they all love Steve and Steve's doing a great job. That's a tough one. That's a much tougher one. I would've thought that some of the ones that we settled that are up here would've been ... I thought this would be easy because I have a very good relationship with President Putin. I have a very good relationship with President Xi. I'm going to be going to China in April. That's going to be be a wild one.

(46:28)
I said, but we have to put on the biggest display you've ever had in the history of China. Last time I went to China, President Xi, he treated me so well. He gave me a display. I never saw so many soldiers. All the same height, exactly the same height, within a quarter of an inch. You can do that when you have 1.4 billion people. Lots of soldiers, everybody was wearing about one-eighth of an inch, the same height. I said, "If they put their helmets down, you could have played pool on the top of their heads." And it was pretty amazing. But I said, "You got to top it." He said, "I'll top it. We're going to top it." We're going to have a lot of the people, most of the fake news back there is going to be going.

(47:10)
So Steve has done a great job. And then a little bit later on, we brought Jared in. Jared responsible for the Abraham Accords, which is incredible. Nobody else could have done that. Very smart guy. And we're making Jared an envoy also envoy of peace. They're both envoys of peace. And you couldn't get two ... I tell you what, I watch these two guys, I say at least we're covered from an IQ standpoint. These two guys walk into a room ... But people like them both. They're good people and they like them both. And they've had some very good meetings.

(47:46)
They've had some very interesting meetings having to do with, as you know, Iran is a hot spot right now and they're meeting and they have a good relationship with the representatives of Iran and good talks are being had. It's proven to be over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal, otherwise bad things happen. But we have to make a meaningful deal. But they have a great relationship with the representatives of Iran. They have a great relationship with the other one that they're really working on now because so many of these ... I mean as an example, Kosovo, Serbia, I did that one. Could you stand up if any of you guys are, when you're here, just stand up for a second. Kosovo, Serbia, stand up. What a job. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. So good. And you're getting along and when you don't get along, you'll call me and we'll get it solved, right? We'll get it solved. Thank you very much. Really good.

(48:44)
And then again, Pakistan and India. That was a big one. And just I think you should actually stand, come. Please stand just for a second. Pakistan and India, thank you very much. And I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, he's excited. He's watching us right now. Egypt and Ethiopia. We're going to get that ... There's a little dam that got built, little dam like maybe the largest dam in the world. Built and financed of course by the United States brilliantly and having a little trouble getting water to the Nile. That's a tough situation, but we're going to get that solved.

(49:23)
Armenia and Azerbaijan we talked about, and again, thank you fellas very much. Great job. Great job. Thank you. Cambodia and Thailand, so incredible what you did. That you got together and it all worked out. They're watching. They're watching right now in closed circuit. Thank you very much. And thank you. That was a big one. Cambodia and Thailand, these are nasty fighters. I have to tell you, these fighters are nasty. Now we talk about ... You talk nasty fighter, you're nice guys compared to this. Congo and Rwanda, that was ... And we've got them pretty peaceful. There's little flare-ups every once in a while. I'll get a call once a week, "Sir, there's a flare-up in the Congo again." We'll get it straightened out, right, Susie? We get it straightened out. And Israel, as you know with ... You could say Israel and numerous countries if you want to really know the truth. But Israel and Iran, and we'll see where that goes.

(50:29)
But when you think of Israel ... The biggest thing of all, we have peace in the Middle East right now that's bigger than ... People said it couldn't be done for 3,000 years they've been talking about Middle East. They said it couldn't be done. And you look at what's happened on Gaza. And one of the keys to it was when we took those beautiful, magnificent, we just ordered 22 more of them. -- updated model. The B-2 bombers are incredible. I never understood the B-2 bomber. I'd watch. It's a wing. And I've never quite understood that, Johnny, I'd look at it, I'd say it was beautiful. But what does it do? It carries very big bombs. It went into Iran and it totally decimated the nuclear potential. When it decimated that, all of a sudden we had peace in the Middle East because nobody ... There was a black cloud hanging over the Middle East and if that wasn't done, that cloud would've been there.

(51:27)
And countries like Saudi Arabia, countries like Qatar countries, nobody could have signed, you would've had that threat. You couldn't have had peace in the Middle East. So now we may have to take it a step further or we may not. Maybe we're going to make a deal. You're going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days. But this meeting today is proof with determined leadership. Nothing is impossible. When I took office the war in Gaza was raging with thousands of people being killed and no end in sight. Today thanks to unrelenting diplomacy and the commitment of many of the great people in this room we have 59 countries signed up. Think of that, it's amazing.

(52:11)
But all the people, really, so many in this room, the war in Gaza is over. It's over. There are little flames, little flames. Hamas has been, I think they're going to give up their weapons, which is what they promised. If they don't, they'll be harshly met, very harshly met. They don't want that. All this stuff, they don't mind dying. They told me that's not true. Everybody said, "Oh, they don't mind dying." No, they don't want to die. They said, "We don't want to die." People don't want to die. The ceasefire was held and every last remaining hostage, both living and dead, has been returned back home. Think of that. That was an impossibility.

(52:52)
And we did hundreds of hostages, but the last 20, and I always said to Steve and Jared, I said, "The last 20 are going to be very tough, very, very tough." And we got them back. We got the living back, and then we only got about 16 of the dead. And we said, "Well, you got to get them all. You promised them all." And they dug and dug and dug. You can imagine it's a job that's brutal. And Hamas really did a lot of that work, and you got to give them credit for that. They brought the last one home a week ago, and we got all 28 of them, living and dead. The amazing thing because I've never seen anything quite like it, the parents of the dead, they knew their boy was dead. This case boy, it's all boys, men, but to the parents, boys, they knew their boy was dead, they wanted that dead body as much as if he were alive.

(53:51)
And when they got them back, there was great sadness, but there was great joy too. They wanted it as much as the people that got their sons back alive. But we got a lot of people before those 20, Steve, that nobody talks about, but hundreds of people. We did a good job and you guys did a fantastic job. I want to thank every nation that helped us achieve this monumental breakthrough, saving countless lives and really bringing peace and bringing the concept of peace because nobody thought peace in the Middle East ... I've always heard peace in the Middle East is impossible and it's turned out not to be. And we do have some work to do with Iran. They can't have a nuclear weapon. It's very simple. They can't have peace in the Middle East if they have a nuclear weapon and they can't have a nuclear weapon. And they've been told that very strongly.

(54:45)
Since the hard won ceasefire of last October. The United States and our partners have facilitated the delivery of vast amounts of humanitarian aid, numbers that nobody's ever seen before. In November, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved the Board of Peace. And last month in Davos, we welcomed over two dozen members to this very important new organization. And we are very closely working with the United Nations. In fact, I'm going to speak to the Secretary General in a little while. He was a good man and I've had a good relationship other than in my last speech, they did turn off my teleprompter. I got up there, my teleprompter didn't work. I'm sitting in front of all of you people and more, I had no teleprompter. I knew I was in trouble because I'm walking up, you know the teleprompters in a row ... We had the most beautiful speech ready. I was all set to knock them dead.

(55:42)
First, I had an escalator that stopped, you know that. It's going up, boom. I was lucky my movie star First Lady was in front of me because I put my hand on a certain part of her body and I was able to stop my fall, otherwise ... Because she had no trouble. I said, "Boy, that was a very sharp stop, Johnny." So I said, that was strange. I've been on a lot of escalators, that's never happened before. Usually it stops very slowly. This was just boom. But our First Lady was right in the proper location for me. I'm waving to people and she was holding on a little tighter. She knew what was happening. She did.

(56:24)
She's got a very successful movie out right now, number one, can you believe this? And it's a big movie, big movie star. And I always say it's trouble because I always say this, not room in one family for two stars. I told her that, "We can't have two stars in one family." So I don't know what that means, but it's not good. But it is good because we're proud of her. People in the United States loved the First Lady and she did the movie and it's become the biggest selling documentary in 20 years. Can you believe? The theaters are all packed. Women especially, they go back and they see it two or three times, four times.

(57:05)
But together, we're committed to achieving a Gaza that is properly governed throughout. The whole area is going to be ... So many countries that have really nothing to do with the Middle East, but they may be somewhat close by, they're all involved. They want to go in and fight. They tell me all the time, "We'd like to send soldiers to fight if it's necessary." And I don't think it's going to be necessary. We have two countries that want to go in and do a number on Hamas. I said, "I really don't think it's ... " I hope it's not going to be necessary because they made a promise and they promised me get rid of their weapons. It looks like they're going to be doing that, but we'll have to find out. But it's no longer a hotbed of radicalism and terror and to end that, we have today and I'm pleased to announce that Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait have all contributed more than $7 billion toward the relief package. That's great. Thank you, fellas. Thank you.

(58:22)
And many more are contributing too. So the numbers are ... This just started. This is our first meeting, but every dollar spent is an investment in stability and the hope of new and harmonious ... It's a region that's so important. It's so vibrant. It's so incredible. The people are so incredible. But we want to have a harmonious Middle East. The Middle East is amazing. So many friends in the Middle East, they're so smart. Sometimes they're too energetic, that's the problem. A lot of people aren't energetic, sometimes they're a little bit too. These are great people. The world is now waiting on Hamas and that's taking place and it's the only thing that's right now, standing in the way, we have Lebanon with certain things that we're working on that are very important. We have to solve the problem of Lebanon, but it's relatively small in terms of what's been done.

(59:22)
And again, the key was getting rid of the nuclear potential because Iran would've had a nuclear weapon based on everything we found out since within one month. We can't let that happen. So many of our friends in Europe are attending today and we're eager to have them become full members. They all want to become full members. And we've had a great response from Europe. And Europe, it's where I come from, where so many people come from that are in the United States. But we have a great relationship with Europe. We have a great head of NATO, he is a fantastic, man, and he's doing a great job. Really great job. I'm excited to announce that Norway has agreed to host an event bringing together the Board of Peace.

(01:00:08)
Oh, I thought ... When I saw this note, I'm excited to announce that Norway, I thought they were going to say that they're giving me the Nobel Prize. Oh. This is less exciting. Oh. It says, I'm excited to announce it Norway, and I'm saying, oh, great. I'm getting a Nobel Prize. Finally. Finally, they got it right. But I don't care. I don't care about Nobel Prize. I care about saving lives, just so you understand. We play and we all do what we have to do. I only have one thing, I don't want to see people killed from parts of the world that are very far away from the United States and if I have an ability to turn off wars, I want to use that ability because it's people, millions of people. It's like the Prime Minister said 25 million people maybe. And that's a small number compared to what it could have been if you really think about it. No, I want to save lives and I don't care about prizes.

(01:01:03)
In the UN Office for a coordination of humanitarian assistance is raising $2 billion for the support of Gaza. Additionally, Japan has just committed to host an aid fundraiser, which will be a very big one, it's already successful. We know some of the numbers that are being talked about. Which will be attended by other nations in the region, including South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and others. And I know that China's going to be involved and I think Russia is going to be involved, I think they will be. We want to have everybody get all sides because it doesn't help when you have all sides with one ideology, you have to have everybody together for this.

(01:01:49)
I'm also pleased to announce that FIFA will be helping to raise a total of $75 million for projects in Gaza. And I think they're soccer-related, where you're doing fields and you're getting the greatest stars in the world to go there. People that are bigger stars than you and I, Johnny, I hate to say it. I met one of your great stars who came to the White House, as you know, and my son was very excited. These are great people. These are great people. And Johnny is going to bring the stars to the area. And they're really known, people in Gaza know every one of them, right? So it's really something. And we'll soon be detailing the announcement. And if I can do, I'll get over there with you.

(01:02:37)
I want to thank Johnny and FIFA for all of the wonderful things they did and are doing. They gave me their first Peace Prize. They gave me a Peace Prize. I think they saw that I got screwed by Norway and they said, let's give a Peace Prize. I mean, very good. Thank you, Johnny. I appreciate it. Johnny is very smart. He's very, very smart.

(01:03:01)
The nations represented here today, just in closing, are not just contributing money. Some are also pledging personnel to help preserve the ceasefire and secure a very enduring peace. We have to have enduring peace. Having peace knowing it's going to blow up in two weeks doesn't mean anything. In particular, Indonesia, thank you very much. Indonesia, that's a great country. Thank you very much. Look at that man. Look how tough he is. You think it's easy dealing with him? Look at that face. You are a tough cookie, and we say it lovingly too. We need strength. See, he doesn't mind. He's tough and he's smart. And smart is more important.

(01:03:47)
Morocco, thank you very much. Great. What you're doing is great. Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan have all committed troops and police to stabilize Gaza. Egypt and Jordan are likewise providing very, very substantial help, troops, training and support for a very trustworthy Palestine Police Force. We think we're getting some very good people on that Police Force and it's peace in the Middle East. We have peace in the Middle East. Think of it for years, you've been hearing about peace in the Middle East and everybody who's saying it's impossible. All of these countries are working together around the vision of a Middle East that is free from the curse of extremism and terror, and now is the time. And by the way, even people with extremism and preaching extremism, they're exhausted, they're tired. It's been going on for too many years. I don't care who you are. They're tired. They want peace.

(01:04:43)
And now is the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we're doing. And if they join us, that'll be great. If they don't join us, that'll be great too. But it'll be a very different path. They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region and they must make a deal. Or if that doesn't happen, I maybe can understand if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, but bad things will happen if it doesn't. With the commitments announced today, the Board of Peace is proving that it does not just convene countries, it devises and implements and real solutions happen. We've come up with solutions. This is so little talk. This is very little talk, all action. First time. It was always talk in the Middle East. People would talk about peace in the Middle East and then they'd go home and they'd never even think about it again. Nothing would happen.

(01:05:41)
We're providing a model for how responsible sovereign nations can cooperate to take responsibility for confronting problems in their own regions. The Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built starting right here in this room. And I want to let you know that the United States is going to make a contribution of $10 billion to the Board of Peace. Thank you. We've had great support for that number, and that number is a very small number when you look at that compared to the cost of war. That's two weeks of fighting. It's a very small number. It sounds like a lot, but it's a very small number. So we're committed to $10 billion.

(01:06:28)
Together we can achieve the dream of bringing lasting harmony to a region tortured by centuries of war, suffering in carnage, they say 3,000 years. And hopefully we can lift the eyes of the world to envision how other intractable conflicts can be settled. So many conflicts they'd say are impossible to settle. And we got, of those eight that we settled, most of them were said to be not settleable, and they not only got settled, they got settled within days. More impossible problems can be solved as we go along this very beautiful path. I think it's a beautiful path. I think it's such an important day. Even the weather's beautiful. We walk in, it's beautiful. Everything's beautiful.

(01:07:13)
But the ancient wounds can be healed and they are indeed ancient, this has been going on for so many centuries. That our entire planet will be a better, safe, more beautiful and more peaceful place for us all. We're going to be working with the United Nations very closely. We're going to bring them back. I think the United Nations has great potential, really great potential. It has not lived up to potential. The eight wars, I never even spoke to them about one of them, and I should be speaking to them about all of them. Someday I won't be here. The United Nations will be, I think is going to be much stronger. The Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly. But we're going to strengthen up the United Nations. We're going to make sure its

Donald Trump (01:08:00):

Facilities are good. They need help, and they need help money-wise. We're going to help them money-wise, and we're going to make sure the United Nations is viable. And you have some very good people at the United Nations. Can do a good job. But as I said, it's... I've said it for years. United Nations has tremendous potential. A lot of people didn't like what I said. They said, "Oh, you shouldn't say that, because we don't care about the United Nations." No, it's really very important, and I think it's going to eventually live up to potential. That'll be a big day.

(01:08:31)
So I want to thank everybody for being here. You're my friends. You're great, great leaders. You're great people, and I can honestly say you're strong leaders. You're tough leaders in many cases. And every single one that I'm looking at that's right here, I've gotten to know and I've gotten to respect, and really, you're friends of mine. And if I can help you at all, you let me know, but this is going to be something. The Board of Peace will be something that the likes of which I don't think anybody's seen before. And thank you all very much. It's a great honor. I'm going to ask JD Vance to come up and say a few words. Thank you very much.

Vice President Vance (01:09:04):

Well, thank you, Mr. President, very much for your leadership, but also for the kind words about me personally. I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but then after the president said that I was so smart, and that I didn't want to repeat our Congresswoman, who froze for 20 seconds over in Munich, now I'm tempted, sir, just to freeze for 20 seconds and just stare at the cameras, and maybe they'll say nice things about me like they do about Congresswoman Cortez. But I have three very brief messages. First of all, to the President of the United States, but to the entire team, to Marco, to Steve, to Jared in particular, who've done such an incredible job.

(01:09:53)
I think what this Board of Peace represents is a recognition that if you actually have a president of the United States and a team that's committed to diplomacy, it can actually work. When I look at what happened to Israel on October the 7th, all those innocent people who were murdered, the fact that you had all of these hostages, and of course a terrible war that came from it, I remember thinking to myself, "How is it ever going to be possible to get these hostages home safely, to make it possible for the people of Gaza to actually have a reasonable future, but also to ensure that Israel is never attacked again?" It turns out the answer was you just needed a president who is committed to the effort and committed to the work. And that's what we had, thankfully, under the leadership of this president. And you got to make peace, but then you have to make the peace stick. And that brings me to my second point.

(01:10:39)
That's what the Board of Peace I think is fundamentally about, is making the peace stick, and it's an incredible thing that you guys have all done. So to all of the leaders gathered here today who are investing in the future, who are investing in peace, we're grateful to you. We're grateful for your partnership. And in particular, I think to the president of Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Armenia, who I just saw last week, thank you all for making it possible and for showing what real leadership can accomplish. When you set aside weapons and killing and destruction and invest in your people and invest in prosperity, it can create great things. So thank you both for what you did. I think it showed great leadership.

(01:11:17)
And finally, to the American people, I think it's important that the American people recognize why we're here today. And 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. The countries represented here represent trillions of dollars of investment in the United States of America that would not have been possible without this President's leadership and advocacy for peace. The economies here represent millions of American jobs of people who are receiving products built in American factories and made by American workers would not be possible without a focus on peace. So Mr. President, while I think this is great for the world, I also think it's really, really great for the United States of America, so we're looking forward to the partnership. With that, I want to turn it over to the emcee for the rest of the program, and that is our great press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. Thank you.

Karoline Leavitt (01:12:16):

Well, congratulations, Mr. President and Mr. Vice President, for convening the first ever Board of Peace meeting. And we will now hear from our secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

Marco Rubio (01:12:25):

I'll be brief and to the point. We want to talk a little bit about the strategic vision of this organization, and begin doing so by first acknowledging that we are here today because the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has both an ability and a willingness to use the power of his office to think outside the box. And that's why we're here today. This was a very unique crisis in Gaza, one that the existing international institutions could not solve or figure out. It needed a very specific-type solution that required the partnership of all the nations that are here, including those that are here on an observer status. And we appreciate you coming today and being a part of this as well. And that's the point I want to drive home today. And soon you'll hear from Steve and Jared, who by the way deserve an incredible amount of credit for pulling this together and working countless hours and traveling all over the world. They truly deserve our appreciation and thanks for the work they've put in under the leadership of President Trump to make this possible.

(01:13:27)
This Gaza situation 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. We have a long ways to go. There's a lot of work that remains. It will require the contribution of every nation state represented here today, and we thank you for being a part of it. And I hope that this, we hope that this, 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.

(01:14:02)
We have to get this right. There is no plan B for Gaza. Plan B is going back to war. No one here wants that. Plan A, the only path forward, is one that rebuilds Gaza in a way of enduring and sustainable peace, where everyone can live there side by side with one another and never worry again about returning to conflict, to war, to human suffering, and to destruction. And again, Mr. President, thank you for having the vision and the courage to pursue something that has never been done before. And we're not done yet. And thank you to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for the time and the work they've put into this. And thank you on behalf of the State Department and the US government to all of the nations that are here. Every one of you is indispensable, including our observer partners, who we hope can find your way to join us at some point as officially part of this, but we are grateful for the fact you're here today and the contributions you've made already. Thank you.

Karoline Leavitt (01:14:51):

Thank you, Marco. We will now hear from our special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Steve Witkoff (01:15:04):

Thank you, everybody, for being here. I don't know if we ever believed that this was possible when we first started envisioning a Board of Peace, but of course under the president's indispensable leadership... And it begins with that. It begins with President Trump's leadership and his direction. We are here today, and it's pretty amazing. I think we have some people to thank. We had an amazing partnership between the mediating countries, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey. Prime Minister Mohammed, you are an exceptional human being. You really are. Ali, thank you for everything you did. That's you right over there, Ali. Wherever Hakan is, Hakan, you were amazing, and so was Ibrahim and President Erdogan. And of course to the Egyptians... Badr, I know you're smiling because we went through so much, and General Hassan was amazing. We all became friends here.

(01:16:07)
And Prime Minister Sisi... President Sisi, pardon me, and so many others. But our team, JD, your insight, your counsel. And Marco, you're an amazing secretary, and it's a privilege to work for you. And Jared, you are my dear friend and the best partner I ever had. You are an amazing person. But Mr. President, it is my greatest honor to work for you. It is the blessing in my life. I've had many blessings. I don't have to be a practicing lawyer anymore, but this is my greatest blessing. But I also have to mention one other person who is important to this discussion. Oh, the Israelis I forgot. Prime Minister Netanyahu, without him, much wouldn't have been accomplished as well. And that's really important that we acknowledge him here today, and Ron Dermer.

(01:17:01)
But a person who doesn't care much about the acclaim we have to acknowledge too, and that's you, Susie. Because I would come back, and you would say to me on every trip, "What can I do for you?" This matters, and you are an inspiration for all of us. So I thank everybody, and let me get on to... Am I going onto the next slide?

Karoline Leavitt (01:17:31):

Sure.

Steve Witkoff (01:17:32):

Karoline?

Karoline Leavitt (01:17:32):

Sure.

Steve Witkoff (01:17:33):

Okay. So with regard to the hostages, we're here today... Again, I say it. I know it sounds redundant, but we're here today because of President Trump. Without him, none of this was possible. There were 251 hostages. 168 came out alive. 83 bodies were returned to their families so that they could grieve and remember their loved ones in a normal way, in a way that brought their families together. So that was just as important. This was a monumental effort. And I want to tell a story about the president. Every time a hostage family came to visit with us, they were not on the president's schedule. I would walk down to the Oval Office. I would tell the president that there was a hostage family here, and he would say, "Steve, bring them up," every single time.

(01:18:33)
And when we got the last 20 out, we had a celebration at the White House, and I could see the emotion on the president's face. And he came up to me, and he said to me, "I have to tell you, this is my fifth year in the Oval Office, and I don't know that I've ever had a more special time than this moment with these people, seeing them come home." And I said to the president, "You have to look around, because none of them would be home without you, sir. None of them." So I only want to tell you, Mr. President, you gave me my greatest honor to work on this effort, and I thank you.

Karoline Leavitt (01:19:29):

Thank you, Steve. Now you're going to hear directly from the team that has been tasked with implementing President Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, beginning with our ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz.

Mike Waltz (01:19:42):

Thank you, and thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies. First, let me wish everyone a happy and prayerful Ramadan. Thank you so much for joining all of us today. Mr. President, Excellencies, bottom line, humanitarian aid has absolutely surged since the Gaza War ended. Our Central Command, our great military is working together with Israel with the UN, so many countries here to coordinate the aid to make sure there's deconfliction. Over 70 countries now are participating in our civil military command center, and here are the results. Aid is up. 4,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza each week for 13 consecutive weeks, the longest stretch of high-volume assistance to Gaza in years. Diversion is down significantly from prior to the ceasefire, with less than 1% diverted this month.

(01:20:40)
Food supplies are way up. We are reaching the full 2.1 million Gazans with aid, up five times from the delivery levels before the ceasefire. The percentage of households experiencing severe hunger has dropped from about 30% to down to 1%. As of this past February, drinking water has doubled, and child malnutrition has been cut in half. If we could go to the next slide, Mr. President, only under your leadership and this great team could we bring together the United States, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, the United Nations agencies. Mr. President, bottom line, like you, this is a board of action, not a board of endless talk or speeches, and these results are a true testament to your leadership and the leadership of this great team. We are saving lives, and it's an honor to be a part of it. Thank you, Mr. President.

Karoline Leavitt (01:21:39):

Dr. Ali Shaath.

Ali Shaath (01:21:49):

Is my honor to be here representing the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. Thank you, President Trump, for your leadership, for your continued efforts. A new governing authority is now in place for Gaza, with a clear mandate and a clear commitment to establishing development and stability. However, we are operating in extremely difficult conditions. Large parts of Gaza Strip are severely damaged, destroyed, actually. Humanitarian needs are acute. Law and order remain fragile. This is not normal operating environment, President, which is precisely why discipline and prioritization matter.

(01:22:54)
Our priorities therefore are defined into four categories. First, restore security via professional civilian police under once authority, one law, and one weapon, including training and developing 5,000 Gazan police to be deployed in 60 days. Secondly, revive economic activities and livelihoods, creating decent jobs, especially for our young population. Thirdly, ensure sustainable emergency relief, as described earlier. Fourthly, restore basic services, including electricity, water, health, and education, and last, but not least, the access and movement. Our mandate is simple, President, step by step to build the foundation for lasting peace, dignity, and prosperity for the people of Gaza. And this is where we count on your continued leadership and support. Blessed the peacemaker. Thank you.

Karoline Leavitt (01:24:23):

Thank you. Now Nick Mladenov.

Nick Mladenov (01:24:26):

Thank you, Karoline, and thank you, Mr. President. Today, we're very happy to announce that we're creating the Office of the High Representative for Gaza of the Board of Peace, which will be there to support, to guide, and assist the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, hopefully removing the roadblocks that they will be facing in taking over civilian and administrative control of the Gaza Strip. We plan to work in full transparency under the guidelines of and supervision of the Board of Peace and the executive board, and of course we will do that in great coordination with the Israel and with the Palestinian institutions, who we both require to make this work on the ground, and certainly with my very good colleague here, General Jeffers, the International Stabilization Force that is coming together.

(01:25:13)
Mr. President, if I can actually use the opportunity to announce some breaking news, that as of this morning, we started the process of recruiting Palestinian police force that Ali was just referring to. And just in the first few hours, we have 2,000 people who have applied to join a new transitional Palestinian police force to be formed in Gaza under the authority of the National Committee, with the support of the Board of Peace, trained in Egypt, where we have received an excellent proposal of how to do that forward. And this is critical to what we need to do as we begin this process. And if we may to the second slide, it is this Palestinian security force under the authority of the National Committee for the transition period that will allow us to ensure that all factions in Gaza are dismantled and all weapons are put under the control of one civilian authority. The only way to do that is the full implementation of the 20-point plan in the UN Security Council resolution, which binds us all to make sure that that is the way forward.

(01:26:17)
We have now a fully agreed framework with the mediators on how to do this, and I thank very much the state of Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey for their excellent support in this. We now need to move forward on communicating it and negotiating the details of the implementation plan with the factions on the ground, but rest assured to all of you that we're on the right track. And if I can ask one thing of all of us, it's to make sure that we have one message. There is no other option except the full demilitarization and decommissioning of all weapons in Gaza, for reconstruction to begin, and for people to have a new way of life going forward. Thank you.

Karoline Leavitt (01:26:59):

Thank you, Nick, and congratulations. Now Major General Jasper Jeffers.

Jasper Jeffers (01:27:04):

Thank you, Karoline, Mr. President. It's an honor to be here today as the ISF commander. The ISF will do two things: stabilize the security environment in Gaza, and enable civilian governance as established by the National Committee. For the last few months, we've had a team on the ground of US military experts preparing the infrastructure for the ISF. This team is already operating from a combined joint operations center that's going to be the headquarters for the entire ISF. As you can see on our map, our plan is for the ISF to be assigned in five different sectors, each sector receiving one ISF brigade. In the short term, we plan to deploy to the Rafah sector first, in addition to the training of police.

(01:27:44)
Midterm objective is to continue to expand sector by sector, all moving to our long term, 12,000 police and 20,000 ISF soldiers. I'm incredibly pleased to announce today that the first five countries have committed troops to serve in the ISF: Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Albania. And two countries have committed to train police, Egypt and Jordan. I would also like to announce that I have offered, and Indonesia has accepted, the position of deputy commander for the ISF. With these first steps, we'll help bring the security that Gaza needs for a future of prosperity and enduring peace. Thank you.

Karoline Leavitt (01:28:31):

Thank you, Major General. Mr. Tony Blair.

Tony Blair (01:28:40):

For decades, Gaza's governance has been characterized by extremism, corruption, ineffective institutions, and the complete absence of a route to prosperity for the Gazan people. Yet, as President Trump recognized, its potential has always been vast. 25 miles of Mediterranean coastline, proximity to great regional and global markets, and a young dynamic population with a median age of 19. So today, we set out profound changes necessary to rebuild Gaza for Gazans, Gaza not as it was, but as it should be, including its governance, effective public institutions serving the people, a business environment where enterprise flourishes, an education system educating the young for tolerance and achievement, and a tech-enabled society, making the most of the digital revolution.

(01:29:37)
This is a vision of Gaza as part of a Middle East at peace, not a phony peace of declarations no one means and agreements no one intends to keep, but a genuine commitment to a region where, whether you are a Muslim, Jew, Christian, of any faith or none, you can rise by your own efforts and feel your government by your side, not on your back. That is the vision behind President Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, and it remains the best, indeed the only, hope for Gaza, the region, and the wider world.

Karoline Leavitt (01:30:21):

Thank you. Mr. Yakir Gabay.

Yakir Gabay (01:30:22):

Hello, everybody. Thank you, Mr. President. Gaza is destroyed. We assembled here on this historic day with common vision, to rebuild Gaza for the next generations. Our mission is to recycle and remove 70 million tons of rubble and UXO and hundreds of miles of tunnels, arrange for the population fast, temporary housing in parallel to start construction of infrastructure and permanent housing. We have a detailed master plan for housing and infrastructure of modern schools and hospitals, manufacturing and agriculture, roads and trains, water and energy plants, logistic hubs, telecom, tech, and data centers, sports and leisure facilities, seaport and airport, and much more.

(01:31:06)
We lined up many regional contractors who build housing for millions of people in the Middle East. They will join the massive redevelopment with competitive pricing. The funding is ready, and will be invested in a free economy. The local population will build their own cities, which will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and will revive the economy. The Gaza coastline is 26 miles long. It can be developed as a new Mediterranean riviera, with 200 hotels and potential islands. The value goes to the Gazans through the Gaza sovereign fund. This plan is all subject to a full disarmament of Hamas. Thank you very much. Together, we will make this vision into a reality.

Karoline Leavitt (01:31:51):

Thank you. Mr. Liran Tancman.

Liran Tancman (01:31:56):

When we asked the NCAG what Gaza needs to unlock its potential, the answer was clear. Reconnect Gaza to the world digitally and economically, and replace corruption with an open, tax-free system. Gaza was once a vital trade hub between Asia and Europe. Reconnection is a return to its roots. Even the word gauze comes from Gaza, where silk was woven and exported to Europe. So we brought together Palestinian, Arab, and American partners to deliver practical solutions. By July, Gaza's 2G network will be upgraded with free high-speed access to essential services. The NCAG is building a secure digital backbone, an open platform enabling e-payments, financial services, e-learning, and healthcare with user control over data. This effort is supported by original partners, and I believe you'll hear some exciting news from them on that later today.

(01:32:59)
In parallel, we're advancing an Amazon-like logistics system to help Palestinian launch businesses, import globally, and trade securely. This will lower prices, drive growth, and help transform Gaza into an open, transparent, corruption-free economic zone. Thank you.

Karoline Leavitt (01:33:18):

Thank you. Mr. Marc Rowan.

Marc Rowan (01:33:25):

Mr. President, distinguished leaders, the goal is simple. Take the momentum all of you have provided and build it into something that is not just temporary relief, but something that provides a long-term foundation that will enable many of the goals we've spoken about today to be achieved. We plan to do this by gathering Gaza's productive assets in one unified structure. This will allow independent, professional, conflict-free management of the resources to benefit the Gazans. This will also enable expeditious planning and zoning, and not fragmented projects that do not contribute to an economic whole.

(01:34:11)
The potential here is tremendous, but it has to start somewhere. The start is in Rafah, where as you heard, that will be the first place security is deployed. The plan is 100,000 homes for 500,000 residents, plus 5 billion of infrastructure. Over time, 400,000 homes for the entirety of the population, with more than 30 billion of infrastructure. Let me put it in financial terms. This is not a problem of money or collateral. This is a problem of peace. The coastline alone, $50 billion of value on a conservative basis. The housing stock, more than 30 billion as rebuilt. The infrastructure, more than 30 billion. 115 billion of value. It just needs to be unlocked and financed.

Karoline Leavitt (01:35:05):

Great. Thank you. Mr. Ajay Banga.

Ajay Banga (01:35:11):

Thank you, Karoline, and thank you, Mr. President. All this requires money. And so when the UN Security Council resolution got passed, we set about creating the Gaza Reconstruction and Development Fund at the World Bank. It's housed there. The World Bank's role is that of a limited trustee. We manage the donor contributions coming in of type that the president said a little earlier in his opening remarks, and then we help to manage that money while it stays with us, and under the direction of the Board of Peace, we disperse the money for reconstruction and development projects in Gaza. This fund is ready to receive the donations that he spoke about just a little while ago. The second part of the story is that US donors deserve the right to know that the money is being used in a transparent way. We are helping, along with the Board of Peace, which takes the ownership of ensuring that the right kind of financial, legal, and oversight mechanisms are being put in place.

(01:36:11)
We have even assigned a financial controller from the World Bank on a secondment basis to the Board of Peace to ensure that we can try and help build the best standards in this process. Now, this is just the beginning. This work is going to need two or three things that the World Bank Group can bring to the table. The first is leveraging of public finance. Because of our AAA rating, we have the ability to leverage private bond money to help to create the resources we need to do what Marc just talked about. The second is we can de-risk private investing, and the third is we have people on the ground and expertise and knowledge of doing this kind of work in other markets. We want to be not an armchair critical process, but an active participant in giving Gazans and people in the region the opportunity of the lives they deserve the one time we get these odds. So thank you again.

Karoline Leavitt (01:37:06):

Thank you all for your tremendous work. Before we turn it over to many of the distinguished leaders who are here today, we are going to hear from Mr. Kushner to talk about the future of the Board of Peace.

Jared Kushner (01:37:25):

Thank you, Karoline, and thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary Rubio. We cannot change the past, but I think that what you're seeing today is that we can potentially change the future if we focus and do this in the right way. We tried to structure this meeting like a proper board meeting, like we do in the private sector, where we have all the preparation, we get the right people together, and we really report on what our challenges are, what the opportunities are, and what are the approaches. What you've seen today is just a small sample of the work that's been done, and I really want to thank the entire team that's worked so hard at this. A lot of these people are volunteers. They're doing this not for any personal gain. People are not personally profiting from this. They're really doing this for their children and for their grandchildren and because they want to see peace.

(01:38:10)
One small anecdote is Liran said to me, "Are you sure I should be presenting? I'm a Jewish Israeli, and I'm working on Gaza and all these things." And I said, "That's exactly why you should be presenting today." If Jews and Muslims work together, Israelis and Palestinians with Americans and English and Bulgarian and people from all around the world, then we can join on a common goal, which is peace and togetherness. And that's really what we've done. I want to thank President Trump. I remember working with you on your first foreign policy speech in 2016 that you gave at the Mayflower Hotel, and at the time, those ideas were considered to be very, very radical. What I saw as somebody who didn't have any foreign policy experience were just common-sense ideas. Why can't the world be better? Why can't there be peace? Why can't there be more prosperity for all people in all ways?

(01:38:57)
And I think over the last decade, you really have changed the way that the world thinks about a lot of these things, and I think that this organization is bringing a new approach and new ideas and new people together in order to effectuate it. I'd really like to thank all the countries that joined on very early. I see this as a very self-selecting group of countries that really believe that the future can be different, and wanted to join in partnership and put their reputations and their resources and their time and their ideas on the way to say, "These are the challenges that we're solving in our own countries. We want to come with new ideas, because we've achieved success, and we believe that the world can be better in that regard."

(01:39:33)
So I don't have to go through these slides in great detail, but we've secured today, even without the president's amazing commitment, over $7 billion. As Marc said, we don't really have a resource issue here, although we are going to need everyone's support. We just need to be executing and doing this in a good way. We've dealt with the humanitarian issue. We've returned the hostages. But the one final thing I just want to talk about as well from our perspective is that President Trump, in his heart, wanted to get the hostages home, but he also really wanted to help the people of Gaza. He saw the suffering that they were enduring, not through fault of their own. Because of the bad leadership that they had, the situation they were born into, the war was a horrific, horrific situation. And I think through this process, thanks to Ali and the committee, we are now here to fully support the committee. We are here to help the people of Gaza, to lift them up, and give them every opportunity to succeed.

(01:40:22)
And we really see this as a partnership with them and with the Israelis to see if we can create an environment that can be peaceful, that could be functional, that can offer people the opportunity to really live a better life. And I think you've seen some of the work today, and hopefully we'll be successful. Like I said the last one, failure is not an option, and we have to really push forward and keep finding ways to succeed with this. So really, thank you, President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Secretary Rubio, and obviously Steve, who's been... Like he said about me, I feel just about him. Working through all these challenges has been an absolute honor and a pleasure with you, and I've really been very lucky to have your partnership. So really, thank you all, and I'll give it back to Karoline. Thank you.

Karoline Leavitt (01:41:03):

Thank you, Jared.

Speaker 1 (01:41:12):

The war Hamas begun has left Gaza in ruins. Yet, from these ruins, a new future will rise. President Donald Trump, unparalleled achievements in just few months. The United States, together with key regional and global partners, has signed a 20-point Gaza peace plan, a blueprint for security, peace, and prosperity, all the hostages returned, the living ones to their homes and the deceased to burial. Ceasefire is stable, and the killings from both sides reduced by 99%. The United Nations Security Council approved the establishment of the Board of Peace, chaired by President Donald Trump, a governing body dedicated to providing security, infrastructure, and homes for Gaza's

Speaker 1 (01:42:00):

Those people... Ushering in the New dawn for Gaza. The new Palestinian technocratic government of Gaza, the NCAG was elected with constant of all parties, including the Palestinian factions, Israel and the Arab countries. Rafah border crossing with Egypt was open. The NCAG will secure the disarmament of Gaza to ensure one authority, one law, and one weapon. The United States and its partners in coordination with the World Bank are pledging billions of dollars to rebuild Gaza. Safe areas are being established in Rafah and later across the Gaza Strip, where families can receive shelter, food, healthcare, and education.

(01:42:42)
In Rafah, Gazans will build their first new city. The NCAG with the Board of Peace will expand development across the entire Strip, employing hundreds of thousands in reconstruction and business activity. Transportation, water, and energy systems will be restored and a modern economy will begin to emerge. Children will return to classrooms with a curriculum that promotes tolerance, dignity, and peace. Our goal by year three, Rafah fully rebuilt unemployment, curbed and Gaza connected to the world through an Abrahamic gateway, linking it with Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and extending to India and Europe. By year 10, Gaza will be self-governed, integrated into the region with thriving industries and housing for all. This is the framework for Gaza's, rebirth. Secure, prosperous, and peaceful.

Marc Rowan (01:43:51):

It's amazing. Now we will hear from our distinguished leaders who are here today beginning with the king of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (01:44:04):

Thank you.

Marc Rowan (01:44:04):

You're welcome.

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (01:44:09):

President Trump, distinguished members of the Board of Peace. It is an honor to participate in this inaugural meeting of board convened by President Donald Trump. I take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt congratulations on this worthy and timely initiative. The meeting comes during the holy month of Ramadan where we will pray to almighty God that our endeavors will bring peace, security, prosperity to the world. As a founding member of the Board of Peace, the Kingdom of Bahrain recognizes and endorses the tremendous potential of this body, the extraordinary drive of its chairman and his sincere efforts to unify nations and our common objectives of fostering an enduring peace for the Middle East. We greatly appreciate President Trump's initiative in presenting the Gaza peace plan and establishing the sport as a vital platform for dialogue, action, and delivery. As we embark on this historic journey together, we urge all peace-loving nations, organizations and groups to actively engage in the successful implementation of the second phase of the Gaza Peace Plan.

(01:45:45)
This includes ensuring lasting ceasefire in Gaza, facilitating its reconstruction, and providing hope and new opportunities for the people of Palestine and Israel. This inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace marks an extraordinary and pivotal chance to envision a new future to Gaza, one that emerges from the ruins of conflict to building a landscape of security, aspiration, hope, and opportunity for its people.

(01:46:24)
And reaffirming our commitment to this vision, the Kingdom of Bahrain has contributed the funds towards the operations and administration of the Board of Peace, and today we announce our readiness to provide the necessary infrastructure and skills to establish an effective government digital services platform for Gaza. Our decision to join the Abraham Accord and enter into the CEPA agreement with the United States reflects our commitment to advancing peace and stability in the Middle East. United States' historic and ongoing presence in our region has served as a positive force for stability, and we remain dedicated to strengthening our partnership. We look forward with optimism to working with the Board of Peace and all of our international partners who share our ambitions for a brighter future for all. Thank you, Mr. President.

Marc Rowan (01:47:42):

Next, the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (01:47:47):

Dear Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, our meeting here at the Donald Trump U.S Institute of Peace comes at the moment when decisive and pragmatic actions matter most. In fact, it's about making durable peace through practical target-oriented measures, but not through endless conferences with wishful resolutions. Mr. President, your clear vision and fast-sighted approach to promoting global peace and stability has inspired my country to join the Board of Peace. The Board of Peace is widely expected to respond directly to new realities by reinforcing existing multilateral efforts. The world has never seen a move like this. It is absolutely unprecedented because in essence, peace through construction is a very innovative concept or project, and it has every chance to become a reality by our joint efforts. Therefore, Mr. President, I acknowledge and accept your conviction that lasting piece must be built on concrete actions. As our first step, we are ready to contribute to significant amount of cash finance directly to the Board of Peace without any delay.

(01:49:35)
Kazakhstan is also keen to be part of the restoration and construction process through international companies with strong credentials. The program mostly funded by our government may include the construction of infrastructure, housing, residential complexes, schools, hospitals, and other important civilian facilities, as well as the rubble clearance. We pledge to fully accomplish our financial commitment towards the board. As one of the world's major producers of wheat, Kazakhstan is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to enhance food security in Gaza and beyond. Kazakhstan plans to provide 500 scholarships to Palestinian students to pursue academic programs in our universities over a five-year period.

(01:50:43)
We can share our internationally recognized e-government expertise and other digital solutions. Kazakhstan is willing to support the ISF by deploying military units, including medical units, and sending our observers to the civil and military coordination center. Sustainable development in the Middle East requires new ways to promote peace, cooperation and trust across the region. That's why Kazakhstan has joined the Abraham Accord. This crucial move is fully aligned with the noble mission of the Board of Peace.

(01:51:31)
Both of them may constitute a solid basis for joint efforts to promote peace and security in the Middle East, and to foster economic humanitarian cooperation in the region and even beyond. Given the global nature of the board's agenda, Kazakhstan is committed to providing practical support, including through hosting meetings at different levels and scales. I also would like to propose to establish a special President Trump's award of the Board of Peace to recognize his outstanding peace-building efforts and achievements. I'm confident Mr. President, that under your strong leadership, the Board of Peace will successfully deliver its great noble mission. Thank you.

Marc Rowan (01:52:36):

Next, the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev (01:52:48):

[foreign language 01:52:43] President Trump, [foreign language 01:52:49] Donald Trump. [foreign language 01:52:55].

Marc Rowan (01:54:30):

The President of the Republic of Indonesia.

Donald Trump (01:54:37):

President Trump, distinguished delegates. Indonesia from the first day that we studied President Trump's 20 point plan, we completely agree and we are fully committed to this plan, and that is why we joined the Board of Peace. We are committed to its success. We know there will be a lot of obstacles, there will be a lot of difficulties, but we are very optimistic with the leadership of President Trump this vision of real peace will be achieved. There will be problems, but we will prevail. We will achieve our dream of peace in Palestine, peace, a lasting and peaceful solution for the Palestinian problem and in Gaza. The achievements of the ceasefire is real. We commend this, and therefore we reaffirm our commitment to contribute significant number of troops up to 8,000 or more if necessary. We are prepared to contribute the troops to take part actively in the International Stabilization Force to make this piece work. Thank you very much.

Marc Rowan (01:56:20):

The president of Romania.

Nicusor Dan (01:56:24):

First of all, President Trump, thank you for convening this very important meeting, and thank you for your involvement and leadership for the peace planning Gaza, peace plan that have been comprehensive and stable and also for your efforts and results in other parts of the world. I think everyone desires peace, stability, prosperity in Gaza, but the question is how to act for, and it's why this meeting and this format, it's important. What Romanian can do, first on the humanitarian situation, we can increase the number of flights in order to extract children with disease and to treat in the Romanian hospitals. We've done already and we can do for a thousand children and 4,000 family members. Secondly, we had a good expertise in emergency response system like ambulance, fire systems. And we can help in order to rebuild that system and we can donate some equipment.

(01:57:42)
Third, we're already offering some scholarship for Palestinian students and we can extend the program and we can help also to rebuild, refurbish the schools in Gaza. And fourth, I think the most important, we had also some expertise we can help to rebuild the institutions like police, like justice, like public administration have done that in other parts of the world. So we have some expertise, we can contribute experts, with trainers and also it's important to say that we have traditionally good relation with the Jewish people and with the Palestinian people, so it'll help. So you can count on us.

Marc Rowan (01:58:31):

Thank you. The prime minister of the Republic of Albania.

Edi Rama (01:58:40):

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this journey Mr. President. The fully aligned, the partisan vote of support this initiative received in our parliament speaks for itself about how honored Albania used to be a founding member of this new organization. Many in Europe say the Board of Peace is meant to substitute the United Nations. It does not look to me like an attempt to replace the UN, but if it helps shake that agonizing giant and inshallah, wake it up, then God bless the Board of Peace.

(01:59:23)
Mr. President, we commend your decisive role in bringing a halt to the heart-breaking conflict in Gaza. And Albania has confirmed this participation in the Stabilization Force with our troops. At the same time, I propose that this board invite all countries to contribute directly by building a dedicated public facility for Palestinian children. And in doing so, the world would help the children of Gaza who are the most innocent hostages of the lunacy of Hamas to grow within the tangible presence of the largest chain of hands humanity has ever joined together, by not only putting the money but bringing their own architects in this. So the world will transform an wound of history into an oasis of hope where compassion takes concrete form and the future is shaped around those who deserve it most, the next generations of Palestinians. Albania will be privileged to stand in that chain.

(02:00:47)
Allow me very briefly to draw your attention to another open conflict closer to home where President Trump's leadership during his first term brought Kosovo and Serbia closer than ever to a final peace agreement. The president of Kosovo was then brutally prevented from traveling to the White House to sign that agreement in the presence of President Trump. And this was the doing of the very same sicario prosecutor that went after President Trump himself, and for that became worldwide famous. Today the Kosovo president have now spent six years in pretrial detention before a special court in The Hague sponsored by several Democratic states, some of them present here that should be shamed of that type of international justice. Just last week, Mr. President, another prosecutor funded by this great country and its taxpayers requested 45 years of imprisonment for him, a request that sent shockwave of humiliation through an entire peace-seeking nation.

(02:02:09)
At this moment, only a few months stand between a man who rose from resistance to ethnic cleansing, to become a peacemaker and the potentially devastated outcome in a court that has so far failed at every step to uphold the standards of democratic justice. For the sake of God, Mr. President, let's do something before, as you say, "Very bad things might happen again." And again, thank you so much for including Albania in this noble initiative. By bringing close friends of Israel and of the Arab countries, we very much hope to be an added value in your amazing vision.

Marc Rowan (02:03:05):

Next, the prime minister of Egypt,

Mostafa Madbouly (02:03:10):

Your Excellency, President Donald Trump, distinguished participants. I thank President Trump for convening this meeting. His excellency's direct involvement and commitment to promoting peace in the region has been an instrumental in achieving an end to the conflict in Gaza, which was previously considered unattainable. Egypt support President Trump's vision to usher in a new era of peace and coexistence among the people of the region in which the Palestinian people enjoy the rights to self-determination and statehood in accordance to relevant international resolutions. Egypt also appreciates President Trump's firm position on rejecting the annexation of the West Bank.

(02:03:54)
Egypt supports the mandate of the Board of Peace as a principle framework for governing the transitional period in Gaza. It is necessary to fully empower the national committee for the administration of Gaza to function effectively from within and throughout the Strip. Also, preserving the institutional and geographical link between the West Bank and Gaza is vital for the Palestinian authority to eventually resume its role in Gaza. Within the framework of Egypt's support to President Trump's plan, Egypt will continue its effort to train Palestinian police personnel to maintain security within the Strip. Egypt value President Trump's position rejecting the deportation of the Palestinian people from Gaza as reflected in the 20 points plan, and stresses the importance of initiating early recovery project in the whole of the Strip in a manner that preserves its geographic unity. Let us consider today meeting as initial step in advancing these objectives. Again, thank you Your Excellency, President Trump.

Marc Rowan (02:05:04):

Thank you. The prime minister of the state of Qatar.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani (02:05:14):

Thank you. Mr. President, distinguished members of the Board of Peace. Thank you for convening this meeting under the banner of peace. Qatar reaffirms its commitment to the Board of peace as it was committed to the very first day of the mediation efforts. From that day until the end when we have witnessed in that historical moment in Sharm El-Sheikh, the signing of this agreement together with our partners. For decades this conflict burdened our region and the world and our responsibility remains to achieve a just and lasting resolution.

(02:05:53)
The board under the President Trump leadership will advance the full implementation of the 20 points plan without delay, ensuring fairness and justice for both Palestinians and Israelis. In this spirit, Qatar pledges $1 billion in support to he board mission aimed at reaching a final resolution that fulfills Palestinian aspirations for the statehood and recognition, and the Israeli aspirations for security and integration. We will also continue our humanitarian coordination together with our UN partners and the Board of Peace. Thank you very much.

Marc Rowan (02:06:31):

Thank you. The deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the UAE

Abdullah bin Zayed binSultan Al Nahyan (02:06:41):

Mr. President, thank you for gathering us today. I really hope that the beginning of Ramadan will give us all guidance towards peace, coexistence, and living in prosperity with each other. Mr. President, just over five years ago, you with your friend, my president, Sheikh Mohammed and the prime minister of Israel launched the Abrahamic Accords. And since then we've managed not only to work with you with Israel towards a better future for the region, but even when October 7th took place, the UAE managed to work with Israel in providing since the war started almost $3 billion of assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza today.

(02:07:38)
Mr. president the UAE announces a further $1.2 billion for supporting Gaza through the Board of Peace, which I'm delighted that I've been working with so many friends like Steve and Jared, Secretary Rubio, who's been so inspiring in so many other ways, on so many other fronts. Looking forward to working with him in the future. And Mr. President, if it wasn't for your support, I think this board would not have been gathered. We would not have had the meeting in New York to end this war when you gathered eight leaders of the region to end this war. So Mr. President during Ramadan, we pray for your success. Thank you.

Marc Rowan (02:08:37):

Thank you. The minister of foreign affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco.

Nasser Bourita (02:08:40):

Thank you. Mr. President, His Majesty King Mohammed VI welcomes and supports your vision and leadership to foster peace and prosperity around the world and in particular in the Middle East. Thanks to your peace plan for Gaza, a ceasefire was achieved, a tragic war was ended, lives were saved, and the pragmatic and forward-looking approach to rebuild Gaza was crafted. Today as a committed founding member of the Board of Peace and upon instructions of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI, Morocco is pledging the following in honor of the President Trump's visionary peacemaking. One, Morocco has already made the first ever financial contribution to the Board of Peace. Two, Morocco is ready to deploy police officers and train policemen from Gaza.

(02:09:44)
Three, Morocco will deploy a high-ranking military officers to ISF joint military command. Four, Morocco will deploy a military field hospital. Five, Morocco is ready to lead a de-radicalization program to fight hate speech and promote tolerance and coexistence. To conclude, allow me Mr. President to briefly highlight four elements. The condition set in phase two of your 20-point plan should be met for the success of our action. Preserving stability in the West Bank is crucial. The Palestinian ownership is important through legitimate institutions. Lastly, you are Mr. President the only leader able to bring peace to the Middle East. We hope that the stabilization of Gaza will help launch in a global and genuine peace process based on the two-state solution. Thank you.

Marc Rowan (02:10:48):

Thank you. The minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Turkey.

Hakan Fidan (02:10:56):

Mr. president, distinguished participants. After two years of immense suffering, ceasefire in Gaza has been achieved thanks to President Trump's personal engagement and our collective efforts. Yet the humanitarian situation remains fragile and ceasefire violations continue to occur. A prompt, coordinated and effective response is therefore essential. President Erdogan remains fully committed to Gaza's security, stabilization and recovery. Turkiye has already been providing immense amount of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. We can also contribute meaningfully to the rehabilitation of health and education sectors as well as the training of the police force. In addition, we are prepared to provide troops to the International Stabilization Force. Mr. President Turkiye will continue to support your efforts towards adjust and lasting peace. We remain convinced that the foundation of such peace is a two-state solution. Let us work towards that objective for the benefit of all peoples of the region. Thank you.

Marc Rowan (02:12:14):

The minister of foreign affairs of the state of Kuwait.

Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya (02:13:56):

I will be delivering my statement in Arabic. [foreign language 02:12:21].

Marc Rowan (02:13:59):

Thank you. The minister of state for foreign affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Falsal bin Farhan (02:14:15):

Thank you. Mr. President, distinguished members of the board, distinguished guests. It is a pleasure to be here with you as we embark on a journey towards establishing a lasting and just peace in the Middle East. A piece that results in two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. A piece that results in transforming our region from death and destruction to hope and prosperity by integrating the region, bringing together its resources and unleashing its potential. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mr. President has been seeking peace, justice in the Middle East since for a very long time. In 1981, King Fahd offered the eight- point plan, which was adopted by the Arab world at the summit in Fez that essentially established or reconfirmed the notion of land for peace. In 2002 Saudi Arabia, the late King Abdullah launched the Arab Peace Initiative, which was adopted by the Arab world unanimously as well as by the Islamic world.

(02:15:18)
Today, custodian of the two holy masks, King Salman bin Ablaziz and his Royal Highness Crown Prince Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, working towards realizing a vision for peace and prosperity and security and integration in our region. So Mr. President, we look forward to working with the Board of Peace to establish this noble objective. And I'm pleased to announce that King [inaudible 02:15:42] will pledge $1 billion over the next few years in order to achieve this objective, to work towards alleviating the suffering of our Palestinian brothers and bring them the peace that they and the whole region so desperately desire. So thank you very

Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah (02:16:00):

... very much and good luck to all of us. [foreign language 02:16:03].

Marc Rowan (02:16:09):

I know there were a few more leaders who wanted to quickly share a few words. So, we will go to the President of the Argentine Republic, Milei.

Javier Milei (02:18:19):

[foreign language 02:16:24].

Marc Rowan (02:18:29):

Thank you. The prime minister of Hungary, Mr. Orban.

Nick Mladenov (02:18:39):

Dear, Mr. President, Excellency and dear colleagues. First of all, let me express the appreciation of the Hungarian people to President Trump for his tireless peace efforts all around the world. Hungary is the only country to be represented here on the highest level among the founding members from the European Union. I represent a country which has been living in the neighborhood of a broader war for the last four years.

(02:19:10)
We all know this war would not have broken out if President Trump had been in office at that time. However, President Trump's return to office offers a great chance to multiply the peace efforts, not only in Gaza but in Ukraine as well. We in Europe understand clearly that the security situation in Middle East, and especially in Gaza, has a significant impact on the security of Europe. Therefore, our participation in the Board of Peace is not only based on principle, but also on our own security interest.

(02:19:49)
Let me also share with you that there is serious talks going on in Europe about the Board of Peace and its future role. We understand that during the recent decades, international organizations have failed to fulfill their role to preserve peace and stability worldwide. Therefore, new initiatives are needed to bring forward the issue of peace globally. We are sure that President Trump's initiative to establish the Board of Peace is such a step to the right direction.

(02:20:26)
President, we are proud to be among the founding members and we are happy to be in such a great company. Thank you very much.

Marc Rowan (02:20:34):

Thank you. President Peña of Paraguay, who is at my shoulder, wants to say a few words.

Santiago Peña (02:20:42):

Yes. Thank you, Karoline. Thank you President Trump. Thank you for bringing hope again, President Trump. I think that of the many things that you have achieved in the last 12 months as president of the US, I think the greatest thing, and I'm probably the youngest head of state here, is hope, President. We have lost hope about solving problems for many, many decades. A system that was broken, a system that was not able to bring solutions. Now, we are seeing that things from your leadership, we are solving the issues.

(02:21:14)
I come from a country that 160 years ago faced extinction. We went to a war against our neighbor and we lost 60% of our territory and 90% of the male population. So, we know on our own face the hardship and all the difficulties of war. That's why Paraguay is so proud to be a founding member of the Board of Peace.

(02:21:38)
And we're here to collaborate. Maybe we are not going to be the country that's going to bring the more money or the more security forces, but I think that there's a lot that all of the countries can bring to the table to solve these issues. Paraguay, together with a handful of countries, have been supporting Israel and we will continue to do so, but we come here with an open heart to work for peace. And today is Gaza, tomorrow will be another conflict area in the world, but we need to solve each of all these conflicts. And I really appreciate the leadership that you have taken, President Paraguay stand ready to collaborate next to you. We're going to continue to support the US initiative. Probably, the only day that we're not going to be able to support the USA is going to be on June 12 because Paraguay is going to be facing the US in the World Cup.

(02:22:33)
Thank you very much.

Marc Rowan (02:22:36):

Thank you. The minister of foreign affairs of the state of Israel, please.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani (02:22:44):

Thank you. President Trump, this is an important day. Your historic actions have proven time and again, you are a leader who takes initiative, forges new paths and works toward a better future for the entire world. Your visionary leadership, alongside with Prime Minister Netanyahu's resolve, brought all our hostages home from Gaza. Thank you for that.

(02:23:13)
I'm proud to represent here the state of Israel that stood through such a difficult war for two years on seven different fronts, demonstrating resilience and strength. As I stand here, I recall the 925 brave soldiers that gave their lives in a war against pure evil, Hamas, Islamic jihad and Hezbollah. These are the best people. To them, we owe our existence and all our achievements. They will not be forgotten. I think of them and their families who paid the heaviest price.

(02:23:54)
Since Hamas violently took over Gaza in 2007, it built the largest terror state in the world with huge terror infrastructure above and below ground. October 7 was the peak of Hamas ongoing terror campaign through decades. Hamas raped and murdered women, killed children in front of their parents, and parents in front of their children, burned whole families alive. That terrible day will not be forgotten, and we must act to ensure it never repeats itself.

(02:24:35)
Distinguished leaders, all previous plans for Gaza failed because they never addressed the core issues, terror, hate, incitement and indoctrination. At the heart of President Trump's comprehensive plan are the disarmament of Hamas and Islamic jihad, demilitarization of Gaza Strip and deradicalization of Palestinian society there. It's the first plan to address the root of the problem. We support it and our working and will work to toward its success.

(02:25:13)
As Mr. Mladenov emphasized, Hamas must must be disarmed. That includes all its weapons, its terror infrastructure, underground tunnel network, and weapons production facilities must all be dismantled. As the plan emphasized, there must be a fundamental deradicalization process. The infrastructure that indoctrinates Palestinian children to hate and kill Jews in educational and religious institutes should no longer exist. All those are important, not only for the Israelis. Gazans have lived under a terror regime for decades. The people of Gaza must be liberated from these terrorists. I want to make this opportunity to wish Muslims around the world, Ramadan Kareem.

(02:26:12)
Distinguished leaders, President Trump's visionary leadership creates for the first time an opportunity for a better future. On behalf of Israel, I say thank you, Mr. Trump. Thank you for your leadership.

Marc Rowan (02:26:31):

Thank you. Lastly, the prime minister of Pakistan.

Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah (02:26:42):

[inaudible 02:26:43], Your Excellency, President Donald J. Trump, members of the Board of Peace, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, [foreign language 02:26:55] and a very good morning.

Speaker X (02:26:57):

You're next.

Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah (02:26:57):

It's a great honor, Mr. President, to attend this inaugural Board of Peace meeting in this holy month of Ramadan. And may God reward you and make you successful in your efforts to bring lasting peace in Gaza. Mr. President, we deeply appreciate your unique initiative and your dynamic leadership in advancing peaceful solutions to conflicts across the globe. Your bold diplomacy has surely brought calm to many international serious hotspots. Your timely and very effective intervention to achieve ceasefire between India and Pakistan, potentially averted loss of tens of millions of people. You have truly proved to be a man of peace. And let me say, Mr. President, we are truly savior of South Asia.

(02:28:14)
The people of Palestine have long endured illegal occupation and immense suffering. And to achieve long-lasting peace, it is very important that ceasefire coalition must end to preserve lives and advance reconstruction efforts. The people of Palestine must exercise full control of the land and their future, in line with UN Security Council resolutions. Mr. President, we must work together towards a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination through the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous state of Palestine, in line with the relevant resolutions.

(02:29:08)
Mr. President, we hope that under your visionary and dynamic leadership, we will ensure a just and lasting resolution to the issue of Palestine. And today is the day which will mark a place in the annals of history, that through your efforts, through your untiring support and great efforts, long-lasting peace in Gaza will be achieved, will be your legacy for all time to come.

(02:29:44)
Thank you.

Speaker X (02:29:44):

Thank you.

Marc Rowan (02:29:50):

Thank you. We will now hear from the president of FIFA, Giovanni, to share more about FIFA's new partnership with the Board of Peace.

Gianni Infantino (02:29:59):

Thank you. Thank you, Karoline. Dear President, distinguished leaders, dear friends, I just have three quick points I want to mention now. Football, that's the first point, football or soccer as it is called, here is the world's universal language. It is spoken by 6 billion people, 6 billion fans who have the same feelings. It's about hope, it's about joy, it's about happiness, it's about coming together and it's about uniting the world. Mr. President, we'll unite the world here this summer during the World Cup, but if we truly want to unite the world, we need peace, of course.

(02:30:40)
And this brings me to the second point, because today we announce a true partnership between the Board of Peace and FIFA, and I'm very proud and very happy to announce this. After having heard your presentations in Davos, I was feeling that we need to help. We need to do something. Everyone has to support peace. Everyone in this room, Mr. President, everyone outside of this room who would like to be in this room, has to support peace as well. We all have to contribute for this and that's why FIFA wants to contribute because we don't have to just rebuild houses, or schools, or hospital, or roads. We also have to rebuild and build people, emotion, hope and trust. And this is what football, my sport, is about.

(02:31:31)
And the third point is that, of course, as you all know, images speak louder and better than words. So, we prepared a short video and you can watch this video. I invite you to look at it carefully. Thank you very much. God bless. Peace and God bless the Board of Peace. Ramadan Kareem. Thank you.

Video (02:32:00):

In a world where conflict has silenced playgrounds and broken routines, there is one language that still unites hearts, football. A simple ball, a shared field, a reason to believe again. Today, FIFA and the Board of Peace come together to turn football into a bridge toward peace, dignity and hope. Through this partnership, a complete football ecosystem will be created. FIFA and the Board of Peace will build football pitches, FIFA arenas, academies and stadiums. This initiative will support the creation of leagues at youth, amateur, and regional level, strengthening community engagement, both on and off the pitch.

(02:32:53)
It will also generate diverse professional opportunities, supporting the development of local talent, not only on the field, but across all areas that bring football to life. Football does more than create players and coaches. It rebuilds confidence, restores routine, reopens doors to education, teamwork, and belonging. Local communities take the lead, parents, teachers, volunteers, youth leaders, all becoming part of a shared mission to heal, to rebuild, to move forward together.

(02:33:28)
Around every pitch, new emotions and long-lasting memories emerge. Community matches, fan gatherings, youth education and sport programs. New job opportunities appear to become coaches, players, sport doctors, administrators, events organizers. We will create football ecosystem with thousands of to be involved and engaged constantly. Together, FIFA and the Board of Peace will build in Gaza 50 FIFA Arena mini-pitches with a cost of around $50, 000 US per unit. This represents a $2.5 million investment. Five full-size pitches in five different districts at around $1 million US per pitch. A FIFA Academy with an estimated investment of $15 million US and a national stadium for 20,000 to 25,000 spectators, valued at around $50 million US.

(02:34:26)
These investments will create a complete football ecosystem, designed to support communities and future generations. FIFA and the Board of Peace, united for football, committed to peace.

Marc Rowan (02:34:41):

Thank you, Giovanni. That's wonderful. In advance of today's meeting, members of the Board of Peace were asked to vote on a resolution establishing the principles of financial integrity and transparency that will guide the Board's work. And that resolution has passed unanimously. So, now, President Trump, as chairman of the board, will sign the resolution in the presence of a quorum of the board. Now, while this is not a fundraiser, the Board of Peace has already inspired remarkable support from so many on this stage. As President Trump announced earlier, total pledges exceed $6.5 billion in relief in rebuilding in Gaza and thousands of personnel have been committed to help preserve the seat spire and secure enduring peace. I would like to ask the heads of the following delegations to join President Trump on stage as he signs the fundraising pledges. Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Uzbekistan, please join the president as he signs the fundraising pledges.

(02:36:36)
Congratulations. Now, president Trump, if you would like to say a few words to conclude, and then you have the honor of gaveling out the first ever Board of Peace meeting.

Donald Trump (02:38:13):

Well, thank you very much, Karoline. And I will say that this has been, I think will maybe be one of, if not the most, important day of our careers. And we've had some pretty good careers up here. But this is something very special. And we're going to straighten out Gaza. We're going to make Gaza very successful and safe. And we're also going to maybe take it a step further, where we see hot spots around the world. We can probably do that very easily. This is a tremendous group of powerful people and brilliant people. And I think that we can do things that a lot of other people would not be able to even conceive of or think of.

(02:38:51)
We will help Gaza, we will straighten it out, we'll make it successful, we'll make it peaceful and we'll do things like that in other spots. Spots will come up, things will happen that nobody's even thinking about now and not even conceivable, but we will take care of a lot of things and we'll work again with the United Nations and bring it back to health. It needs help. It's got tremendous potential, but it needs a lot of help. And I think we can start with doing that pretty soon. Michael, I think we're going to work on that very strongly.

(02:39:25)
We can fix up even the building physically. I like to see beautiful buildings. I'd like to see buildings fixed up physically, not look like they are in disrepair, we don't like that. So, we're going to do a job with the United Nations. We're going to have some very good people, and you have some very good people there right now, but we're going to put some extra people in and we're going to have it help us.

(02:39:49)
But most importantly for today, the Board of Peace is going to lead the way in Gaza. We're going to make Gaza an example of success and safety and unity. And it's an honor that you're here and I want to thank the media for being so respectful. You're really amazing. It's given the Board of Peace the respect it deserves. These are the most powerful people in the world, the richest people in the world through their countries, and they have made a tremendous commitment. And the United States, likewise, has made a tremendous commitment.

(02:40:22)
Thank you to everybody for your involvement and we look forward to working with you over the years for many reasons, many very, very good humanitarian reasons. Thank you all. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Speaker X (02:40:34):

Thank you, Mr. President. [inaudible 02:40:40].

Donald Trump (02:40:34):

Thank you, everybody. Ready? [inaudible 02:40:48]. We'll take it with us. Thank you, everybody. [inaudible 02:41:07].

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