This Trump ploy isn't just scandalously unethical: it's yet another impeachable offense

This isn’t merely scandalous or unethical: it’s impeachable on its face and dangerous to the survival of democracy worldwide.

Donald Trump is trying to use a United Nations resolution to justify making himself King of the World via a new “Board of Peace” that Trump says “might” replace the UN, with the ability to pass the title along to his son, Don Jr., if he continues to please his father.

No, this isn’t an exaggeration.

It all started when the United Nations Security Council voted to accept Resolution 2803 on Nov. 17, to make effective the Gaza peace plan agreed to by Israel and Hamas in October 2025.

Resolution 2803 called for a two-year international stabilization force and a “Board of Peace” to oversee the process in the region. It was explicit, however, that this would be a board with a very limited portfolio:

In response to that, Trump had his administration lawyers create an entirely new private, non-governmental “treaty‑based international organization” with its own legal personality, that is not a U.S. government agency, corporation, or standard NGO/non‑profit. This new entity called the “Board of Peace” would:

• Make Trump its chairman, with essentially absolute power and a veto over every action.
• Make the chairman the only person able to invite or approve new member-states into the group.
• Give Trump the sole ability to appoint his own successor as heir/successor/chairman, such as Don Jr.
• Keep the Board of Peace in existence for perpetuity should the current or a subsequent Chairman decide.
• Make the entrance fee for permanent members $1 billion each, money the Chairman controls.

The draft charter Trump has proposed for his Board of Peace doesn’t even mention Gaza, anywhere; as a result, it appears designed to replace the UN as a new governing body for the entire world.

When asked if Trump intended the Board to replace the UN, he replied that it “might” do so, adding:

The White House has already named the first four Executive Board members: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, billionaire and Trump friend Steve Witkoff, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Vladimir Putin also indicated he’d like to join and suggested Russia’s billion-dollar entrance fee could come from funds already seized by the US government.

This “give us an inch and we’ll take a mile” attempt to co-opt the power and role of the UN and give it entirely to the Trump family, creating a new international royal family that could rule the world for generations to come, was described by Jacob T. Levy, a political theory professor at McGill University, as “impeachable.”

This international power grab also comports with Trump’s statement yesterday at Davos that his becoming a dictator for the world would be a good thing:

It’s an echo of his statement last August as he was ordering troops into the streets of Washington, DC:

With no elections, accountability, or checks-and-balances, this “Board of Peace” is a direct assault on democracy worldwide. The chairman (Trump) is not answerable to voters, Congress, courts, or international law: this is the opposite of democratic governance.

The chairman overrides all collective decisions, and even if member states vote, their decisions mean nothing without Trump’s approval. That isn’t democracy, it’s veto-by-monarchy.

This is designed to normalize authoritarian governance worldwide, fulfilling Putin’s dream. If the U.S. president can create a parallel global authority that ignores democratic norms, why shouldn’t other strongmen like him and Xi Jinping do the same? Or simply start ignoring UN mandates and rules, saying they now submit to the BoP’s authority instead?

It’s also corruption, plain and simple. The billion-dollar “fee” to stay in good standing is legalized bribery, making the entire scheme simply a form of extortion dressed up as governance: pay or be expelled.

Because membership can be terminated at the chairman’s whim — even after payment — this isn’t a real “treaty organization”: it’s a protection racket that violates the most basic anti-corruption norms the U.S. claims to defend. “Nice little country you have there; we’ll help you bring peace if you pay up to the Trump family…”

It’s also establishing a new form of dynastic rule with the Trump family at its center. Trump appointing his own successor isn’t even subtle: it’s a proposal for hereditary power without even the pretense of merit or consent.

And, because the Trump family, not the American people, controls the future of the organization, it’s not even a nod in the direction of the democracy our Founders and generations of Americans have fought and died to bring into being and keep alive. Even if voters were to decisively reject Trumpism at the ballot box, the Trump dynasty would still keep power at a level above the United States itself.

This mirrors the logic of autocracies the U.S. claims to oppose, including Russia, North Korea, and the Gulf monarchies that are all so dear to Trump. America fought a revolution to escape dynastic rule, but now Trump wants to establish one here and then export it worldwide.

Trump’s “Board of Peace” is a direct threat to American constitutional government because the US itself, under the terms of this charter, becomes subject to Trump’s personal authority. Under the proposed document, the U.S. can be expelled unless it pays a ransom or pleases the chairman.

This also undermines the American presidency as an institution — and future American presidents — because a future democratically elected president could be extorted or sidelined by this private Trump-led entity. It also bypasses Congress entirely with no treaties, no ratification, and no oversight. This isn’t “America First”: it’s Trump and his family first, raw personal power, with America Optional.

And it takes a direct whack at the international order established by the United Nations eighty-plus years ago. The BoP charter doesn’t even bother to mention Gaza, its supposedly humanitarian justification. International law is thus replaced by the Trump family’s personal jurisdiction, and nation-states are no longer equal actors; they become simple clients dependent on Trump’s favor.

The structure also rewards authoritarian regimes and punishes democracies. Dictators can pay, flatter, and comply, while democracies are constrained by law and public accountability and thus disadvantaged.

Already, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has said, “We have, of course, accepted this honorable invitation.” After the United States pulled back from 66 UN organizations and is now $1 billion in arrears on our dues, the 21 nations already committed to signing up also include: Bahrain, Morocco, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Israel, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, Uzbekistan and Mongolia.

This dangerous precedent doesn’t bring peace to Gaza or anyplace else. Instead, it replaces law with loyalty to the Trump dynasty.

If Trump can get away this, so can the next demagogue because once democratic norms are abandoned, they don’t magically return. It sets a precedent for private, unaccountable global power.

Which is why Jacob Levy is right: this is impeachable on its face. This phony “Board of Peace” is a personal power project that treats democracy as an inconvenience, the rule of law as optional, and the world as a Trump family inheritance.

We should be as shocked and furious as are the leaders of Europe’s top democracies — who have said they will not participate — and moving quickly toward impeaching our wannabe king and his courtiers.

• Thom Hartmann is a New York Times best-selling author and SiriusXM talk show host. His Substack can be found here.