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In a moment that is sure to bring back warm memories of the energy and fun of the campaign trail, President Donald Trump gaveled out the high-profile “Board of Peace” meeting in D.C. on Thursday by playing “YMCA.”
“YMCA” was one of the president’s most often-played songs at his famous MAGA rallies. It was often the song chosen to close out his campaign speeches.
Another favorite song, repeatedly used to close out his speeches during the campaign, was “Hold On, I’m Coming” by Sam and Dave.
Thursday’s Board of Peace meeting in Washington, D.C., at the Trump Institute of Peace assembled dozens of leaders from around the world as they discussed the future of the Middle East amid a fragile but forward-moving ceasefire and peace plan in Gaza.
During the inaugural meeting, President Trump revealed that multiple member countries of the organization had pledged a combined $7 billion to the board’s peace efforts. The president additionally pledged $10 billion from the United States.
“We’ve had great support for that number,” President Trump said. “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. That’s a very small number.”
Amid multi-billion-dollar contributions from the board’s founding member countries, President Trump looked toward the future of Gaza, focusing on providing stability for the region.
“I think this will be maybe one of, if not THE most important day, of our careers,” the president said during closing remarks on Thursday. “…This is something very special. We’re going to straighten out Gaza, and we’re going to make Gaza very successful and safe. And we’re also going to maybe take it a step further, where we see hotspots around the world, we can probably do that very easily.”
The president’s Board of Peace – where he also serves as the chairman – has arguably been positioned as a near-replacement for a somewhat toothless United Nations. The Board of Peace, unlike the UN, has been able to bring dozens of countries into unity on establishing conflict resolution in the Middle East.
“We will take care of a lot of things, and we’ll work again with the United Nations, and bring it back to health,” President Trump stated. “It needs help. It’s got tremendous potential, but it needs a lot of help.”