It was a banner day for Donald Trump. On Thursday, at the US justice department, a long perpendicular banner with his stern visage was unfurled, proclaiming ‘Make America Safe Again’. And just across from the state department, Trump convened his shiny new Board of Peace at the former US institute of peace, which has a dove-shaped white roof. It was seized in 2025 by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and renamed after Trump. ‘I had no idea,’ Trump said. But for all his disclaimers, Trump was not shy about expressing his delight at the new name that adorned the building’s entrance.

A bevy of strongmen, including Vietnam’s general secretary To Lam and Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban, looked on as Trump proclaimed that he would reshape the Middle East. Missing was Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian delegation, apparently, never received visas from the Trump administration and issued a statement expressing its displeasure: ‘If even basic formalities aren’t respected, what “peace” are we talking about?’

It was a pertinent question. Trump fell........

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