U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a charter announcement for his Board of Peace at the 56th annual World Economic Forum, in Davos, on Thursday.Denis Balibouse/Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is rescinding Prime Minister Mark Carney’s invitation to join his Board of Peace after the Canadian leader skipped the group’s first meeting and delivered a speech widely viewed as rebuking Mr. Trump for ending the U.S.-led rules-based international order.
Mr. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post as he flew back to Washington from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.
“Dear Prime Minister Carney: Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” the President wrote.
Mr. Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump struggled to get the U.S.’s traditional allies to join the Board of Peace, which held its first meeting in Davos. French President Emmanuel Macron outright rejected Mr. Trump’s invitation, while Britain, Germany, Italy, and most other European countries did not attend.
The board, ostensibly meant to oversee Mr. Trump’s Gaza peace plan, has become controversial over fears that Mr. Trump intends it to have a broader mandate as a parallel to the United Nations under his direct control. He has also invited international pariahs such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite his ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, to join.
Both Mr. Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, another invitee, are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court and would have faced arrest if they had set foot in Switzerland.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Carney went viral with a Davos speech that, while it did not name Mr. Trump, appeared squarely aimed at him. In the address, the Prime Minister said the world is “in the midst of a rupture” away from rules-based internationalism and toward a global system of economic “coercion” by major powers. Mr. Carney called on middle powers such as Canada to band together against such “subordination,” including standing up to ostensible allies who engage in economic bullying.
Mr. Trump has imposed tariffs on nearly every country in the world and gotten many to sign lopsided trade deals favouring the U.S. in order to avoid even steeper tariffs.
Mr. Carney left Davos early the next morning around the time Mr. Trump was arriving and the pair did not speak with each other. The President later chided the Prime Minister in his own speech: “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark,” Mr. Trump said.
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Mr. Carney’s speech and Mr. Trump’s latest move could signal a rockier phase to their relationship. Despite Mr. Trump’s hefty tariffs on Canada, Mr. Carney for months cultivated a chummy rapport with him and made several trade concessions, rolling back Canada’s retaliatory tariffs and cancelling a planned digital services tax.
Such moves, however, have not gotten Canada a deal to lift U.S. tariffs and Mr. Carney has said the matter may not be resolved until the planned renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which could take a year or more. Last week, Mr. Carney struck a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping that will see Canada lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles — breaking with the U.S. — in exchange for China lowering tariffs on canola and other Canadian goods.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, spent the days leading up to the World Economic Forum threatening to impose tariffs on European countries that opposed his plan to annex Greenland. He abruptly backed down after agreeing to a “framework” for talks on the matter with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the details of which have not been released. Mr. Trump’s annexation talk had also spooked markets and polled poorly among U.S. voters.
The President on Thursday went ahead with the signing of his Board of Peace’s charter, even amid the absence of most of the Western alliance.
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British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC that her country would not be signing on for now. “This is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace,” she said.
The White House initially listed Belgium as having joined the board before the country’s foreign minister corrected the record. “Belgium has NOT signed the Charter of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect. We wish for a common and coordinated European response. As many European countries, we have reservations to the proposal,” Maxime Prevot wrote on X.
Mr. Trump told the Board of Peace charter signing, which included representatives from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia and Turkey, among others, that he saw Gaza as a prime development opportunity.
“I’m a real estate person at heart and it’s all about location, and I said ‘look at this location on the sea,’” he said. “Look at this beautiful piece of property, what it could be for so many people.”