Mike Baker

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.

Morocco, Pakistan, Indonesia, Paraguay, and Vietnam have all agreed to participate.

There's also a symbolic element here.

Armenia and Azerbaijan accepted invitations following a U.S.-brokered peace agreement last year, something the administration points to as an example of what the board could help lock in.

But I want to point out a controversial sign-on, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signaling what appears to be a tentative thaw in relations between Washington and Minsk, despite Belarus' backing of Russia's war in Ukraine.

As for Russia and China, well, if I'm starting a board of peace, I would love to have one of the early members be Vladimir Putin.

Who likes peace better than Putin?

For now, both Russia and China remain on the sidelines.

Neither has said whether it will participate, and both are veto-wielding members, of course, of the UN Security Council.

That's a status that makes them wary of any initiative that could dilute their influence inside an existing system.

At the same time, not all U.S.

allies are on board.

Norway and Sweden declined to join.

Italy raised constitutional concerns that participation in a body led by a single foreign leader could violate domestic law.

France also plans to decline the invitation, and Canada has agreed in principle but says key details are still being worked out.