President Donald Trump convened a peace council meeting on Thursday that included representatives from more than 40 countries and observers from more than a dozen countries. The first meeting focused on reconstruction and the creation of an international stabilization force for war-torn Gaza, where a ceasefire remains uneasy.
Trump said council members have committed $5 billion to reconstruction, a fraction of the $70 billion expected to rebuild the Palestinian territories. Member states are also expected to send thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces amid concerns Trump is seeking to create a rival to the United Nations.
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UN Security Council members slam Israel’s West Bank plans ahead of Trump peace commission meeting
U.N. Security Council members called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and condemned Israeli efforts to expand control of the West Bank as a threat to prospects for a two-state solution. They met Wednesday on the eve of Trump’s first peace council meeting to discuss the future of the Palestinian territories.
A high-level U.N. meeting was originally scheduled to take place in New York on Thursday, but the date was moved up after Trump announced that a council meeting would be held on the same day, complicating diplomats’ travel plans. It’s a sign of potential overlapping agendas and conflict between the United Nations’ most powerful body and Trump’s broader ambitions to mediate conflicts around the world, raising concerns among some countries that it could try to compete with the U.N. Security Council.
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U.S. trade deficit fell to $901 billion last year due to Trump’s tariffs
The U.S. trade deficit edged down in 2025 as Trump upended global commerce by imposing double-digit tariffs on imports from most countries.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the gap between the goods and services the U.S. sells to and purchases from other countries will narrow from $904 billion to just over $901 billion by 2024.
Last year, exports grew by 6% and imports by nearly 5%. The trade deficit rose sharply from January to March before narrowing for much of the rest of the year as U.S. companies tried to import foreign goods ahead of Trump’s tariffs.
Trump’s tariffs are taxes paid by U.S. importers and typically passed on to their customers in the form of higher prices. But their impact on inflation was not as large as economists initially expected. Trump believes that tariffs will protect American industry, bring manufacturing back to the United States, and raise funds for the U.S. Treasury Department.
Countries that have indicated that they will join
Includes Argentina, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kosovo, Morocco, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
See the full list of countries that have joined, opted out, or are undecided.
Trump’s vision for the board
The group has evolved since it was founded as part of the president’s 20-point peace plan to end the conflict in Gaza. Since the October ceasefire, Trump wants it to have a more ambitious mandate – not only to fulfill the difficult task of achieving a lasting peace between Israel and Hamas, but also to help resolve conflicts around the world.
How to disarm Hamas
These questions are at the heart of the discussion. A key Israeli demand and a cornerstone of the ceasefire agreement is the creation of an international armed stabilization force to maintain security and ensure the disarmament of the militant Hamas group.
So far, only Indonesia has given Trump a firm commitment on the proposed troops. Hamas has little confidence in its willingness to move forward with disarmament efforts.
