President Trump Remarks at First ‘Board of Peace’ Meeting (Transcript) 

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 was — had nothing to do — nobody believes it, and that’s okay, but I appreciated it. It was Marco and J.D. and a group got together, and they did that, and I just thought it was very nice. And it makes me work harder. 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. You know, nobody knew what the purpose of it. But the architecture is so beautiful, and it’s — it was — with the meeting rooms and 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. He said, “This building is great.” And he actually claimed it, right? He claimed it. And that’s what he does. Where is Marco? I said, “Marco? Is that you? You claimed this building. You took it away from about five groups that wanted it.” It was — that was done very quickly, very methodically. But it was really, really built so beautifully and such a beautiful building.

The Board of Peace and a Commitment to the Middle East

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. And there’s nothing less expensive than peace. You know, when you go to wars, it costs you 100 times what it costs to make peace.

Thirty Years of Fighting, Resolved in 24 Hours

We have a man at the end, right there, that’s smiling because you learned that after 30 years of fighting. Right? Thirty years of fighting. We got it done. I want to thank you very much. That was a 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, right? 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, right? 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’ve become friends, right? Right? Right.

TRUMP: Stand up. Stand up. Stand up. Stand up. Stand up. Stand up. These are two tough cookies, too. I want to — these are — you think that was easy. It wasn’t easy. These are two tough people. Good people, but tough people.

But, you know, 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 is over here. One is on the other side of the room. I said, “Folks, could you get a little closer?” Well, I don’t know. They felt very uncomfortable. You know, they’ve 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? Thirty-two years. Thank you. Thank you very much.

World Leaders in Attendance

But we’re honored to be joined today by Prime Minister Rama of Albania. President — where is President Milei? Here’s another one. I’ll tell you. Where is President Milei? I endorsed him. I’m not supposed to be endorsing people, but I endorsed him. When I like people — you know, I’ve had a very good record of endorsing candidates within the United States. But now I endorse foreign leaders, including Viktor Orbán, who’s here, and others.

And I endorse 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 in the largest number in the history of Japan. So she likes me a lot. But it was an honor.

And you’re doing — oh, look, they’re sitting right next to Viktor. I think — 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. I’m very proud of you.

Recognizing Leaders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain

The Prime Minister, another — really, just a great guy. Pashinyan of Armenia. President Aliyev of Azerbaijan. I love saying that name now, you know? 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. 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. You know, he can sit up in the corner. He can sit up top. He might take a piece of this building, Marco. He’ll take 25 percent of the building for about 6 billion. Thank you. And you’ve been very generous also. We appreciate it.

Greetings to Leaders from Cambodia and Egypt

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-slash-President. Okay?

Full Endorsement for Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary

Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary, who has my complete and total endorsement for election. Not everybody in Europe loves that endorsement. That’s okay. He does an unbelievable job. He’s done an incredible job on immigration, unlike some countries that have hurt themselves, but 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. He was a little down, right?

Trump Acknowledges World Leaders

**TRUMP:** And then he ended up winning in a landslide, so that’s pretty good. You’re going to do great, Victor. Thank you very much for being here. I appreciate it. You run a great country.

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.

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. Great job you’re doing, too. Thank you very much.

Trump Credits Pakistan Deal for Stopping India-Pakistan War

**TRUMP:** Prime Minister Sharif — I like this man — of Pakistan. Because there was some fighting going on when I got to know him. And your Field Marshal, General — great, 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 Wells, who’s right here — he said, “You know, 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, “Twenty-five 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. Right? And 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. Right? 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. Right? Good, serious fighter. I like good fighters, actually.

Trump’s Trade Threat That Ended the Conflict

**TRUMP:** And when I heard that they were fighting, I picked 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 planes were — many planes were shot down. It was all out.

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.” That has 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.

And 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. Right?

But I said, “If you fight, I’m going to put 200 percent tariffs on each of your countries,” which essentially makes you not allowed — you know, you can’t do any business. One of them — I won’t say which one — said, “No, can’t do that.” 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. Right? 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, you know, bad things happen.

So, Prime Minister, I want to thank you because that was a big — that was a very big deal. People have no idea. A lot of them say, “Oh, well, they weren’t fighting.” They were fighting. Eleven 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 — you know, 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.

Welcoming World Leaders to the Board of Peace

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. 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 Emir 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. So, you know, surprising to some of the people out there. But now they’ll start changing their tune because it’s true. I only tell the truth.

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 it’s — they are just really, really solid people.

President Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, who is — where? There he is. And a friend of mine — we’ve got one of the most difficult names in history, but that’s okay. It doesn’t matter. Your country is doing great. You’re doing great. And just no problems. Every time I see him, nope, we’re doing good. No problems.

And General Secretary Tô Lâm 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.

Tribute to Vice President J.D. Vance

We’ll also want to express my gratitude to Vice President J.D. Vance, who is — he was a fantastic man. He’s a fantastic talent. He was a great student. They went to one school. He graduated. You know, 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 J.D. did in college.

J.D. 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. 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 J.D. 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 he’s been my friend. All of our people. We have a fantastic group of people. Our Cabinet members, everybody. Many of them here. But J.D. has been great. Thank you very much. He gets a little bit tough on occasion. We’ve got to slow him down just a little bit on occasion. He says he’s mine.

Now, then we have the opposite extreme. We have your friend sitting in the back. Your good — your best friend sitting in the back is Marco. Marco does it with a velvet glove, but it’s a kill. Right? The result is the same. They do it very differently.

Praise for Marco Rubio’s Performance in Munich

And, Marco, you really did yourself proud two days ago in Munich. In fact, so proud that I almost terminated his employee 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.

But, no, he got — I want my guys to do great. And the acclaim he’s gotten and the acclaim J.D. 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 know, you can get away with that. But she just went — it’s actually — I think it could be a career-ending answer. Because for 25 years, anybody running against her, I think Suzy is going to use that little piece of — it was not good. It was not good. That was not a natural.

So, I want to thank J.D. I want to thank Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They’re extraordinary. And I want to thank Special Envoy for Peace Steve Witkoff, who has been unbelievable.

Steve Witkoff: From New York Developer to Peace Envoy

You know, 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 that, 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. You know, New York developers tend to be on the tough side.

And, you know, most of them hate each other, like a lot of the people in this room hate each other. You know, it’s sort of natural, I guess. But we’re bringing love back into the room, like the old days. 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?” And he 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 who was leaking. These are little stories I like telling.

Witkoff’s Four-Hour Meeting with Putin

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 call back, “Tell Steve to call me when he’s 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.

TRUMP: 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 have thought that some of the ones that we settled that are up here would have 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.

Trump’s Upcoming Visit to China

I’m going to be going to China in April. That’s going to be a wild one. I said, “But we have to put on the biggest display you’ve ever had in the history of China.” You know, 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. You know, lots of choices. 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’ve 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.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner: Envoys of Peace

So, Steve has done a great job. And then, a little bit later on, we brought Jared in. Jared was responsible for the Abraham Accords, which is incredible. Nobody else could have done that. A 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. You know, they’re good people. And they like them both.

And they’ve had some very good meetings. They’ve had some very interesting meetings having to do with, as you know, Iran is a hotspot 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. 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.

Recognizing the Peace Delegations

Because so many of these — I mean, as an example, Kosovo and Serbia. I did that one. Could you stand up — if any of you guys are 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.

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 — you know, 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. But that’s a tough situation. But we’re going to get that solved.

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 on 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, Rwanda, and the Road to Stability

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’ll get it straightened out.

Israel, Iran, and Peace in the Middle East

And Israel, as you know — you could say Israel in numerous countries if you want to really know the truth. But Israel and Iran, and we’ll see where that goes. But when you think of Israel, we’ve done 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 the Middle East. They said it couldn’t be done.

And you look at what’s happened in 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.

And it went into Iran, and it totally decimated the nuclear potential. And when it did, 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 have been there. And countries like Saudi Arabia, countries like Qatar — nobody could have signed. You would have had that threat. Nobody could have had — 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. Well, you’re going to be finding out over the next, probably, 10 days.

Determined Leadership and the War in Gaza

But this meeting today is proof that 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 on Gaza. Think of that. It’s amazing. But all the people — many — 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. You know, all this stuff like, “They don’t mind dying.” They told me that’s not true. Everyone 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 Hostages Come Home

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. And we did hundreds of hostages, but the last 20 — and I always said to Steve and Jared, “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’ve 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’ve 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 — in this case, boys, 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. 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, what nobody talks about. But, you know, 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.

The Threat of a Nuclear Iran

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 — you 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.

Humanitarian Aid and the Board of Peace

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 has 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’s a good man. And I’ve had a good relationship.

A Teleprompter Moment at the UN

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. The teleprompters are over. I had the most beautiful speech ready, and I was all set to knock them dead.

The Escalator Incident

First, I had an escalator that stopped. You know that. It’s going up. Boom. It’s 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. It’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.

The First Lady’s Documentary

She said that there’s a very successful movie out right now, like number one. Can you believe this? And she’s a big movie star. And I always say it’s trouble because I always say there’s 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 love 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.

Commitment to a Governed Gaza

But together, we’re committed to achieving a Gaza that is properly governed throughout. The whole area is going to be — you know, so many countries that have really nothing to do with the Middle East, but they’re maybe 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.

## The Board of Peace: Global Contributions and Commitments

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. And many more are contributing, too. So the numbers are — you know, 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. You know, a lot of people aren’t energetic. Sometimes they’re a little bit too energetic. These are great people.

## Hamas, Lebanon, and the Nuclear Threat

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 we’ve — what’s been done.

And again, the key was getting rid of the nuclear potential because Iran would have had a nuclear weapon, based on everything we found out since, within one month. We can’t let that happen.

## Europe’s Role and Norway’s Announcement

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 is — you know, 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 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. 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 that Norway — and I’m saying, oh, great, I’m getting the Nobel Prize. Finally. Finally, they got it right.

But I don’t care. I don’t care about the Nobel Prize. I care about saving lives, just so you understand. We play and we all, you know, 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 — twenty-five million people, maybe. And that’s a small number compared to what it could have been, if you really think about it, right? No, I want to save lives. And I don’t care about prizes.

## International Aid for Gaza

And the U.N. Office for 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 is going to be involved, and I think Russia is going to be involved. I think they will be.

I 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.

FIFA’s $75 Million Pledge for Gaza

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, and people that are bigger stars than you and I, Johnny. I hate to say it.

You know, 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? You know? So, it’s really something. And we’ll soon be detailing the announcement. And if I can, I’ll get over there with you.

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 him a Peace Prize. Very good. Thank you, Johnny. I appreciate it. Johnny is very smart. He’s very, very smart.

Nations Pledging Personnel for an Enduring Peace

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. It’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.

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 Palestinian police force. We think we’re getting some very good people on that police force.

Peace in the Middle East — A Vision Becoming Reality

And, you know, 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 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.

A Message to Iran

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.

The Board of Peace: All Action, No Talk

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.

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. And 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.

A Vision for Lasting Harmony

Together, we can achieve the dream of bringing lasting harmony to a region tortured by centuries of war, suffering, and carnage — they say 3,000 years. And hopefully, we can lift up the eyes of the world to envision how other intractable conflicts can be settled. So many conflicts, they say, are impossible to settle. And we’ve got to settle. We’ve got 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 is beautiful. We walk in, it’s beautiful. Everything is beautiful. 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, safer, more beautiful, and more peaceful place for us all.

Strengthening the United Nations

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, going to be much stronger, and 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 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 who can do a good job.

But as I said, I’ve said it for years, the United Nations has tremendous potential. A lot of people didn’t like when I said it. They said, “Oh, you shouldn’t say that because, you know, 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.

Closing Remarks

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. 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 J.D. Vance to come up and say a few words. Thank you very much.

VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: 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.

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