FILE PHOTO: U.S President Donald Trump attends the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
President Donald Trump launched his Board of Peace in January, amid criticism that he intended to rival the United Nations, but months later — despite billions of dollars in pledges from donor countries — its fund “has received no money from donors,” according to the Financial Times, which reports “Donald Trump’s Board of Peace fund is empty.”
“Nobody with money and resources wants to work with the Board of Peace,” a person familiar with the group’s efforts told The Guardian. “Lump on the conflict with Iran, and the people with deep pockets now have an excuse not to pay.”
“Several countries that pledged billions of dollars have not actually given any money,” The Daily Beast adds, noting that it “has no real funding despite receiving billions of dollars in pledges.”
“Zero dollars have been deposited,” into the Board of Peace’s World Bank-backed fund, a source told the FT, The Daily Beast reports.
Even President Trump’s own State Department, which pledged $1.2 billion, has yet to disburse those funds, which it says are earmarked for projects linked to the Board of Peace.
“None of that money [has gone to the board]. None of that money is being managed by the Board of Peace. And State tells us there’s no intent to have any of that money managed by the Board of Peace,” a senior congressional aide told the FT.
No funds have gone toward rebuilding Gaza.
“Nothing has happened. They haven’t even contracted to remove rubble,” one person told The Guardian.
Still, one official said the Board of Peace is confident it can collect on pledges made, and said Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have all transferred money to support the group’s overhead costs.
Even the $10 billion Trump pledged at the Board’s first meeting in February has not been sent.
“We will help Gaza,” Trump said, as NBC News reported at the time. “We will straighten it out. We will make it successful. We will make it peaceful. And we will do things like that in other spots.”
“Once this board is completely formed,” Trump said at the January launch, “we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. And we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” Reuters reported. “There’s tremendous potential with the United Nations, and I think the combination of the Board of Peace with the kind of people we have here … could be something very, very unique for the world.”
