From the EU, only Hungary and Bulgaria signed up. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — despite speaking in the same room just minutes before the signing — left before it started.
Apart from the EU countries, Ukraine was notably absent from the signing Thursday, as well as Russia and Belarus, which were rumored to be considering joining.
The room in Davos was far from full, leaving the U.S. administration making excuses for the small number of countries officially signed up during the event.
Trump claimed that most countries want to be a part of the board, saying: “Just about every country wants to be a part of it … these are just the countries that happen to be here.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the event that other countries want to join but aren’t in Davos or have to go through procedures before they can finalize joining.
That narrative doesn’t ring true for European leaders, who have backed away from the body as Trump expanded its ambition beyond Gaza’s reconstruction. France has specifically pointed to fears that the group could look to usurp the United Nations.
“I think we can spread out to other things as we succeed with Gaza. We’re gonna be very successful in Gaza. It’s gonna be a great thing to watch. And we can do other things, we can do numerous other things — once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we wanna do, and we will do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” Trump said.
But U.S. leaders criticized existing multilateral bodies, which they said haven’t been effective. Trump said the U.N. hasn’t reached its full potential, while Rubio said other institutions were “unable to do anything” about ending the war in Gaza.