Is Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ a power grab?

Today, UN analyst at the International Crisis Group, Maya Ungar, on the real agenda behind Trump’s Board of Peace and whether Australia should join.

Jan 23, 2026, updated Jan 23, 2026

US President Donald Trump has invited Australia to join his new “Board of Peace” – a Trump-led body he says will help bring peace to Gaza.

But the invitation comes with a warning. Some leaders say the board could undermine the United Nations – and Trump himself has suggested it might even replace it.

Trump has spent years attacking the United Nations as ineffective – and this term, his administration has moved to pull the US out of dozens of UN agencies.

So is this a peace plan, or a power play?

Today, UN analyst at the International Crisis Group, Maya Ungar, on the real agenda behind Trump’s Board of Peace and whether Australia should join.

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