Since this isn’t The Pit, I’m going to keep my rant comments to a normal conversational level.
Everyone, by which I mean world leaders, pundits, media, and politicians are treating this “Board of Peace” like it’s something. Like it really is a real thing.
It is nothing. It isn’t a thing. Just because Trump says it’s a thing doesn’t mean it is a thing. It’s an illusion, a cloud, a bit of vapor. A toxic fog.
It’s not even as much as Trump University used to be a thing. That was sort of a thing for a little while. And then it dissolved. Without a trace.
But this Board of Peace is absolutely nothing. And people are lining up, taking it seriously, and acting like it’s a real institution. That because he has waved his arms in the air he has created something. The parties that have stepped forward and said they will belong to this pretend thing are a classic example of bending over and saying, “Thank you, sir, may I have another.”
The fact that he still has credibility, the fact that people still attribute legitimacy to him, this is what absolutely blows my mind.
And yes, this is my opinion because this is a board where we come to express our opinions. I’m now getting a little hot under the collar so I am going to leave. As it is I have a class at 1:40 so I must go.
“He’s never said anything as president I found embarrassing.” – My MAGA mother a few years back. A friend of mine, MAGA supporter, told me Charlie Kirk was just a great guy who “wanted everyone to get along.”
I’m in the same boat as you. You’d think we’d get over it by now, but I just can’t stop being amazed by people looking at a naked emperor and telling me what fine clothes he has.
All the reporting that I have seen has been a mixture of disbelief and disgust. That’s not the same thing as acknowledging it as a legitimate institution that will persist more than 5 minutes.
If the point is that the media shouldn’t give it oxygen, there’s a debate there, because of course all the attention seems to help Trump and we shouldn’t always dance to his beat.
But right now, with this combination of events of Greenland, and Davos, and Carney’s speech and now culminating with war criminals / genociders leading the Orwellian Board of Peace…it does seem like a pivotal moment to me. I’d find it hard as a news editor to overlook.
I don’t mean they shouldn’t cover it. Obviously it is a kind of news. But they shouldn’t cover it as if they are covering the United Nations or the Vatican, i.e., recognized legitimate institutions.
For example, AP says:
The first paragraph of that article reads:
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his Board of Peace to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body he said could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate.
AP is treating this Board like it is a legitimate entity, and giving trump’s stated goal some semblance of credibility instead of giving it all the respect Wanker Trump’s Wet Dream deserves.
My article would read as follows. And don’t tell me not to editorialize; all news articles editorialize these days. The media has tremendous power to shape public opinion.
DAVOS, Switzerland (TL) – Donald Trump, who took the oath of office as 47th President of the United States in January 2025, recently issued invitations to various world leaders to participate in what he is calling a “Board of Peace.” It’s not clear upon what legal foundation this hypothetical group will rest, if any. So far Trump has published no charter or by-laws. He has stated vague objectives related to peace in Gaza, but nothing in writing. Membership will be by personal invitation from Trump alone and he has stated that the fee to join is $1 billion USD. Due to this joining fee, and also likely due to the lack of credibility associated with the organization or with Trump, there have been few takers among the nations of the world.
Yeah that’s mental. I’m onboard with the rant then.
It does follow a pattern though; the Greenland thing has been covered in incredibly favorable terms for Trump; described in neutral terms like “acquisition” while making the security case for it. The free press was nice while it lasted.
I don’t see it that way. I see it as saying that he’s full of crap. This part right here:
The opening sentence is calling it a sham, more or less. If “everyone wants to be a part” but in reality many don’t want to participate, he’s clearly making false claims about it. And it makes him look delusional. (Because he clearly is.)
The first Trump Administration had three victories, it got the Abraham Accords signed, NAFTA v2, and a law to reduce prison sentences.
The first you could allocate to Mike Pompeo. The latter two, so far as I know, can only be attributed to Kushner. That all three at least involve Kushner lead me to believe that he is able to get things done.
Outside of him, Executive Order as one might wish, the instant you lose an election everything goes away. ICE stops raiding homes, tariffs poof into air, Greenland stops being the 51st state.
If you’re not getting votes and signatories, it’s all just playing make believe. Makes headlines. Doesn’t actually mean squat.
Good Lord, you’ve hit the proverbial nail on the head. That is, far and away, the best description of each and every maga type I’ve ever seen. The astonishing thing is that not only is it the Far Right, but Trump specifically they’ve chosen as said DT. (Hey, his initials even fit!)
I believe there is a very good argument to make the creator of this “Board of Peace” is a war criminal himself.
Anyone could have renegotiated NAFTA. It’s been central to the Canadian economy for decades now. The US could appoint a chimpanzee as a negotiator, and we’d show up with bananas.
They were tired of following Jesus (or in the case of many younger MAGAs I know, they never did). He’s such a square. Plus it’s much easier to get The Word Of Orange piped right into your brain.
And AFAICT the heavy lifting on the Abraham Accords was done by Israeli and Arab leaders, particularly UAE and Bahrain. The US’s role in the deal seems to have been largely public-facing master of ceremonies.
I’m not opposed to giving due credit for achievements even to somebody I dislike and distrust as much as Jared Kushner, and I readily admit that in the first Trump administration he was at least putting in effort to be informed about and accomplish specific goals. But that’s a far cry from having demonstrated any exceptional level of executive ability or professional diplomat-level knowledge and skill appropriate to international geopolitical leadership.
I equally readily admit, however, that compared to Donald Trump, Jared Kushner ranks as Talleyrand, Bismarck, and Dag Hammarskjöld rolled into one. There aren’t many literate adults who don’t, for that matter.
The guy couldn’t get an Infrastructure deal passed, when 100% of Congress agreed that the one thing the country needed was to review and fix up our infrastructure. We still had to wait four years.
No doubt, on the Board of Peace wiki page there is a colorful map showing that Canada has the distinction of being the ONLY country with ‘invitation withdrawn’.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a Canadian Heritage Minute to commemorate the honor.
“Two of the signatories were unable to attend the inaugural signing of the document, because they would be arrested as war criminals. Additionally, six other signatory nation’s citizens may not enter the United States because of the freeze on visa processing on these countries.”
