In a lavish ceremony at Davos on 22 January 2026, President Donald Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” — a self‑styled international body chaired by himself for life, ostensibly to mediate conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine. With early signatories like the UAE, Hungary and Azerbaijan, and invitations to 60 nations, Trump hailed it as “the most prestigious board ever formed,” hinting it could eclipse the UN. Elon Musk’s quip — “Peace or piece? Like a little piece of Greenland, a little piece of Venezuela?” — drew laughs, but beneath the jest lies a darker truth: this is no peace initiative. It’s the blueprint for a new world order where wealth reigns supreme, ordinary citizens are disenfranchised, and Trump crowns himself king.
Let’s be clear: the Board of Peace is Trump’s long‑cherished fantasy of unchecked power realised. Absent key allies like France, the UK, Germany and Canada, who cited conflicts with the UN Charter, the board reeks of selective legitimacy. Leaked drafts reveal Trump’s indefinite chairmanship, even post‑presidency, positioning him as a global arbiter above elected leaders. Critics, including Slovenia’s PM Robert Golob, call it a “dangerous interference” in the international order. Musk’s “piece” joke wasn’t just wordplay; it evoked Trump’s past obsessions with annexing Greenland and eyeing Venezuela’s oil — territorial grabs dressed as diplomacy.
This board accelerates a profound shift: from multilateralism to oligarchy. Trump’s second term, buoyed by billionaire backers like Musk (who donated over $250 million to his campaign), has already slashed regulations, gutted taxes on the ultra‑rich and weaponised tariffs. Global billionaire wealth exploded three times faster in 2025 post‑election, hitting records with Musk as the first half‑trillionaire. The board entrenches this, sidelining the UN and empowering a cabal where admission fees (rumoured at $1 billion, as Putin jested) favour the wealthy.
Wealth won’t just be “unfairly treated” — it will rule. Billionaires are already 4,000 times more likely to hold power than average citizens. Trump’s board amplifies this: imagine Musk, with his X platform amplifying propaganda, dictating ceasefires while BlackRock’s Larry Fink shapes investment flows. The poor? Repressed. Protests against austerity — from Kenya’s Finance Bill riots to Argentina’s union crackdowns — face tear gas, not tax hikes on yachts. Unequal nations are seven times more prone to democratic erosion, and Trump’s vision delivers exactly that: policy for plutocrats, crumbs for the masses.
Trump as king? He’s always craved it. His “America First” rhetoric masked monarchic impulses — lifelong board chairmanship is the clincher. With the board eyeing UN functions, he positions himself as global sovereign, mediating via Mar‑a‑Lago summits flanked by oligarchs. Allies snub it because they see the endgame: a world order where US veto power trumps sovereignty, and wealth buys vetoes too. France balked at the charter’s Gaza omissions; the EU fears irrelevance.
This isn’t hyperbole. History warns us: unchecked wealth breeds tyranny. Louis Brandeis nailed it a century ago: “We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Trump’s board chooses the latter, a gilded cage for the world.
Africa, our home, feels this acutely. Our growth hovers at 5 percent amid debt traps and aid cuts, while billionaires extract minerals for AI chips. Trump’s tariffs hit our apparel exports; his board ignores our conflicts unless they serve elite interests. Wealth concentration here — tycoons in construction and telecoms — already stifles competition. A global board amplifying that? Recipe for neocolonialism 2.0.
Yet resistance endures. Kenya’s Gen Z forced a cabinet sacking; Uruguay’s Mujica rose from prison to presidency on people’s power. Trade unions narrow wage gaps; civil society demands NIRPs (National Inequality Reduction Plans).
Trump’s board is a coronation, not conciliation — crowning wealth as the new deity in a world order where the rich feast and the rest fast. But history bends toward justice when the many unite. Demand wealth taxes, end billionaire buyouts, reclaim multilateralism. Peace isn’t pieced out to the highest bidder; it’s won by the world’s collective will.
