Mike Baker

President Trump is now warning that continued threats from the regime against foreign leaders will trigger an overwhelming retaliation as more U.S.

military hardware moves into the region.

Now, previously, of course, Trump had declared to the protesters that help is on its way.

What's not clear is where the actual red lines are at this point for the Trump administration and what that promised help might look like.

Okay, I want to turn your attention now to President Trump's new Board of Peace.

Because as invitations to join the board go out to world leaders, some U.S.

allies signal they want no part of it.

You may remember when Trump first proposed the Board of Peace idea back in September this past year.

It was a part of his push to end the war in Gaza.

The board's purpose and focus was to be Gaza.

But the administration now describes the board as a broader conflict resolution framework, that sounds grand, meant to step in when negotiations drag on and traditional diplomacy stalls, not just an entity set up to deal with Gaza, as originally proposed.

According to a draft charter reviewed by Reuters, Trump would serve as the board's inaugural chairman, giving the initiative a deliberately centralized leadership structure.

The stated mission is to mediate conflicts and promote peace, operating alongside, rather than within, existing international institutions, such as, of course, the UN.

Membership would normally be limited to three-year terms, though countries could secure permanent seats by contributing $1 billion each to the fund's board operations, a provision that the administration argues ensures long-term commitment and real skin in the game.

And diplomats and officials briefed on the effort say roughly 50 invitations have already gone out, with about 35 countries already agreeing to participate.

The White House has named Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, when does he find time to do it all, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to the board's founding executive leadership.

The idea is to combine diplomatic experience with political leverage and direct access to Trump in a setup meant to keep negotiations from getting bogged down.

A senior White House official says early participants include several of Washington's key partners in the Middle East, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Egypt.

A handful of NATO members have also signed on, including, no surprise, Turkey and Hungary, whose leaders have forged personal ties with Trump.

Beyond that, the list stretches across regions.