Above photo: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images.
EU nations decline to join.
Trump says he took offense at the Canadian premier’s critique of Washington’s coercive measures used against allies.
US President Donald Trump revoked Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s invitation to join the so-called ‘Board of Peace’ on 23 January over the harsh comments Carney made about US foreign policy during his address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos.
“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 wrote on Truth Social.
The revocation comes after what was viewed as a criticism of US foreign policy during Carney’s Davos special address, opening with “Today, I’ll talk about the rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story, and the beginning of a brutal reality where geopolitics among the great powers is not subject to any constraints.”
He continued by warning that “great powers began using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.”
Carney added, “You cannot ‘live within the lie’ of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
He further argued that “The multilateral institutions on which middle powers relied – the [World Trade Organization] WTO, the UN, the [Conference of Parties] COP – the architecture of collective problem solving – are greatly diminished.”
Trump took offense to the Canadian premier’s remarks questioning the foundations of the post-war order, in which he said, “the story of the international rules-based order was partially false,” arguing that “the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient,” that “trade rules were enforced asymmetrically,” and that “international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.”
Although Carney acknowledged that “this fiction was useful, and American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods,” Trump viewed the broader framing as ungrateful and as a challenge to US hegemony.
Trump’s reaction came as he was openly pressing allies at Davos, warning that countries refusing US demands would be “remembered,” and complaining that Washington “gives so much” through NATO while “getting so little in return,” backed by threats of punitive trade tariffs tied to Greenland.
He also openly revived calls to annex Greenland, declaring that the US wanted “a piece of ice for world protection.”
Netanyahu skips ‘Board of Peace’ signing in Davos over fears of arrest
Switzerland has stated it would enforce the ICC warrant against Netanyahu should he visit the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to attend the signing ceremony for US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Switzerland on 22 January, over fears he would be arrested for war crimes commited in Gaza if he set foot in the country.
Trump held the ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss city of Davos.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog took Netanyahu’s place at the WEF, which gathers western leaders from politics, business, and civil society to discuss global issues.
Over 20 leaders attended, including Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
In 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare, intentionally directing attacks against civilians, and crimes against humanity such as murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Israel has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, while demolishing the strip’s civilian infrastructure and neighborhoods and displacing nearly the entire population.
Other estimates suggest the real death toll is three to five times higher amid Israel’s efforts to make Gaza unlivable and expel its two million Palestinians to make way for Jewish settlers.
Switzerland is one of 125 nations that have ratified the Rome Statute, which established the ICC in 1998 as an international body to prosecute leaders who commit genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.
✒️ It seems Israel’s PM #Netanyahu failed at keeping Türkiye & Qatar outside of the #Gaza #BoardOfPeace panel: That’s Turkish FM #HakanFidan signing Türkiye on! Meanwhile, Netanyahu himself couldn’t come to #Davos due to his ICC arrest warrant. So sad. 😂 pic.twitter.com/QtPjCigtxk
— Turkish Century (@TurkishCentury) January 22, 2026
Netanyahu accepted Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace on Wednesday, amid his ongoing role in directing the genocide in Gaza.
The Swiss government has previously affirmed its commitment as a party to the Rome Statute to arrest Netanyahu should he seek to enter the country and extradite him to the Hague-based court.
Several other countries, including the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, and Australia, have also said they would comply with the warrants if Netanyahu were to visit.
The only ICC member state Netanyahu has entered since the warrants were issued is Hungary, whose leader, Viktor Orban, refused to arrest him and later withdrew his country from the ICC.
In an effort to punish the court for issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Galant, the US placed sanctions on the ICC and its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, and several judges who participated in issuing the warrants.
