US President Donald Trump withdrew an invitation for Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney to join his Board of Peace after the country declined to pay for a permanent seat, in one of a few challenges to hit the newly constituted body.

“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,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network Friday morning.

Before that post, Spain’s leader announced that he was declining an invitation to the board, alongside a similar announcement by France on Thursday. And multiple European Union officials expressed concern about the board’s mandate, and whether it will step on the toes of the UN.

Carney left the World Economic Forum in Davos before Trump inaugurated the committee of world leaders, which is currently tasked with implementing the US peace plan for the war-battered Gaza Strip.

Although originally meant to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter makes no mention of the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations. A mandate for a Board of Peace was authorized by the UN Security Council in November 2025, but only through 2027 and solely focused on the Gaza conflict.

The Canadian government said it would not pay to join the body, which, according to the charter, requires a $1 billion fee from countries wanting to earn permanent membership.

European leaders have “serious doubts about several elements in the charter of the Board of Peace related to its scope, its governance and its compatibility with the UN Charter,” EU chief Antonio Costa said Friday after an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.

However, he said, “We are ready to work........

© The Times of Israel