President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States will contribute $10 billion toward the Board of Peace.
Trump made his announcement during the board’s second official meeting, the first convening of the group in Washington, D.C.
“The United States is going to make a contribution of $10 billion to the Board of Peace,” said Trump. “We’ve had great support for that number and that number is a very small number when you look at that, compared to the cost of war. That’s two weeks of fighting.”
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It’s unclear where the money will come from or whether it will require congressional approval.
During his remarks, Trump said that significant work still needs to be done for the people of Gaza.
“People would talk about peace in the Middle East, and then they’d go home and they’d never even think about it again. Nothing would happen,” said Trump. “We’re providing a model for how responsible sovereign nations can cooperate to take responsibility for confronting problems in their own regions. The Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built, starting right here in this room.”
Trump had previously announced that the board had pulled in $5 billion in funding for the rebuilding effort, but he fine-tuned that number Thursday.
The president claimed that, in total, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan were contributing more than $7 billion to the Board of Peace.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked during her Wednesday briefing about how that money will be allocated, after Trump critics accused him of using the board as a quasi-slush fund to speed the development of luxury real estate in Gaza.
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Leavitt denied those accusations and stated that all board members, both nations and international organizations like FIFA, will have a vote on how the funds will be spent.
You can watch Trump’s comments in full below.