I’ll say one thing for Donald Trump: he doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet. When he decides to do something, he does it.

Of course, it’s not always the smart thing to do, or even legal. But, like a man who has suddenly come to the realization that he is, after all, a mere mortal with a non-negotiable expiration date, he just plunges ahead in the blind certainty that it will work out because he wants it to.

And it appears that is also the case with his newest brainchild: his “Board of Peace.”

Only unveiled in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, there are about two dozen countries — mostly with authoritarian regimes, and notably excluding most EU nations, the UK, Canada, and Japan — signed on to membership. He has now invited the signatories plus an unknown number of other countries to send their representatives to the Board’s inaugural meeting in Washington on February 19th.

According to a U.S. official and a diplomat from an invited country (both unnamed), the meeting is to be held at the U.S. Institute of Peace (which Trump earlier renamed the “Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace”). [Jennifer Hansler, CNN, February 7, 2026.]

The U.S. official also said that the meeting is intended in part to be a fundraiser; however, they stressed that the details are still being ironed out. At Davos, Trump said that permanent membership on the Board — as opposed to the standard three-year term — was available for the bargain price of $1 billion.

It is unclear at this time how many of the current signatories have plunked down the money; but Vladimir Putin — who has not yet committed Russia to membership — did say that he would consider joining and paying the $1 billion if Trump would release frozen Russian assets.

We’ll see how that goes.

In fact, we’ll see how the whole thing goes. European nations have expressed concern about the true intent of the organization, fearing that Trump may be planning to supplant NATO, the EU, and possibly the United Nations. And considering the roster of initial members,* as well as the fact that the Board’s charter gives total and exclusive control to Trump for life, and the authority to appoint his own successor, their concern appears well founded.

* Members of the Board of Peace to date: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam [Source: “Board of Peace,” Wikipedia.org.]

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/8/26