What did Donald Trump do today?
He rescinded an offer for Canada to pay $1 billion to be on a "board" with dictatorships.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had sharp words for Trump in his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this week. It got under Trump's skin, who blustered back at "Mark" and demanded that he be "grateful." (Ironically, Carney does owe Trump a debt of gratitude. His Liberal party was widely expected to be swept out of power in last year's elections, but when Trump returned to office and started making insulting "51st state" remarks about Canada, it swung voters sharply away from the Conservative party Trump backed.)
Carney returned to the fray with another speech in Quebec City today, challenging Trump by name and praising Canada for its embrace of the values Trump has abandoned—a commitment to democracy, free and fair public debate, and the strength it draws from its embrace of immigrants. "Canada doesn't live because of the United States," Carney said, throwing Trump's words back at him. "Canada thrives because we are Canadians."
That appears to have been what triggered Trump to go on social media and declare that Canada was no longer welcome to join his "Board of Peace," a sort of Potemkin village version of the United Nations with Trump's cronies and relatives in place of actual world leaders. Membership costs $1 billion, and Canada—along with virtually all of the United States' allies in developed countries—had already passed on the invitation. It was widely understood as a meaningless vanity project for Trump even before he decided to charge admission.
The billion-dollar price tag is meant to signify that a "Board of Peace" member country has demonstrated "deep commitment to peace, security, and prosperity." But the countries willing to publicly commit to joining it are among the least free countries on the planet. The charter members are:
| Country | Freedom House index score | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Belarus | 7/100 — Not Free | "Belarus is an authoritarian state in which elections are openly rigged and civil liberties are severely restricted. Security forces have violently assaulted and arbitrarily detained journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens who challenge the regime. The judiciary and other institutions lack independence and provide no check on President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s power." |
| Morocco | 37/100 — Partly Free | Monarchy. "King Mohammed VI and his palace maintain full dominance through a combination of substantial formal powers, informal lines of influence in state and society, and ownership of crucial economic resources. Many civil liberties are constrained in practice." |
| Vietnam | 20/100 — Not Free | "Vietnam is a one-party state, dominated for decades by the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). Although some independent candidates are technically allowed to run in legislative elections, most opposition is banned in practice. Freedom of expression, religious freedom, and civil society activism are tightly restricted. Even by Vietnam’s authoritarian standards, in recent years, and particularly in 2024, the authorities have engaged in one of the widest-ranging crackdowns on dissent in decades." |
| Kazakhstan | 23/100 — Not Free | "President Nursultan Nazarbayev ruled Kazakhstan from 1990 until his resignation in 2019. His hand-picked successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, began a program of ostensible reform after peaceful nationwide protests turned violent in January 2022. Parliamentary and presidential elections are neither free nor fair, however, and authorities have consistently marginalized or imprisoned genuine opposition figures. The dominant media outlets are either in state hands or owned by government-friendly businessmen. Freedoms of speech and assembly remain restricted and subject to punishment, and corruption is endemic." |
| Hungary | 65/100 — Partly Free | "Since taking power in the 2010 elections, [Trump ally] Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Alliance of Young Democrats–Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz) party has pushed through constitutional and legal changes that have allowed it to consolidate control over the country’s independent institutions. The Fidesz government has passed antimigrant and anti-LGBT+ policies, as well as laws that hamper the operations of opposition groups, journalists, universities, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are critical of the ruling party or whose perspectives Fidesz otherwise finds unfavorable." |
| Armenia | 54/100 — Partly Free | Rebounding from a period of "systemic corruption, opaque policymaking, a flawed electoral system, and weak rule of law" but its membership is part of an ongoing charm offensive directed at manipulating Trump directly. "The country has been seriously affected by military pressure from Azerbaijan in recent years. In September 2023, nearly the entire ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which had enjoyed de facto independence from Azerbaijan since 1994, fled to Armenia after the Azerbaijani military defeated local defense forces and took full control of the territory." |
| Egypt | 13/10 — Not Free | "President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who first took power in a 2013 coup, has governed Egypt in an authoritarian manner. Meaningful political opposition is virtually nonexistent, as expressions of dissent can draw criminal prosecution and imprisonment. Civil liberties, including press freedom and freedom of assembly, are tightly restricted. Security forces engage in human rights abuses with impunity. Discrimination against women, LGBT+ people, and other groups remains a serious problem, as do high rates of gender-based violence." |
| Kosovo | 60/100 — Partly Free | Plausibly fair elections but "many public institutions are undermined by corruption, though there are signs that a new generation of politicians are moving to confront corrupt practices through judicial and administrative reforms. Journalists continue to face intimidation, particularly on social media. The rule of law is inhibited by interference and dysfunction in the judiciary." |
| Pakistan | 32/100 — Partly Free | Contested elections. "However, the military exerts enormous influence over the conduct of elections, government formation, and policies; intimidates the media; and enjoys impunity for indiscriminate or extralegal use of force. The authorities often impose selective restrictions on civil liberties. Islamist militants conduct terrorist campaigns against the state and also regularly carry out attacks on members of religious minority groups and other perceived opponents. |
| Paraguay | 63/100 — Partly Free | Decades of entrenched one-party rule. "Corruption and organized crime remain widespread. Journalists face legal and other pressure and sometimes violence in response to their work, and many practice self-censorship. Constitutional guarantees of due process are poorly upheld. Gender-based violence is persistent. The rights of rural and Indigenous people are threatened by commercial development and associated environmental damage." |
| Albania | 68/100 — Partly Free | "Corruption and bribery remain major problems, though the government has worked to address corruption in the judiciary." |
| Uzbekistan | 12/100 — Not Free | "Uzbekistan remains an authoritarian state with few signs of democratization. No opposition parties operate legally. The legislature and judiciary effectively serve as instruments of the executive branch, which initiates reforms by decree, and the media are still tightly controlled by the authorities. Reports of torture and other ill-treatment persist, although highly publicized cases of abuse have resulted in dismissals and prosecutions for some officials." |
| Bahrain | 12/100 — Not Free | "Bahrain’s Sunni-led monarchy dominates state institutions, and elections for the lower house of parliament are neither competitive nor inclusive. Since violently crushing a popular prodemocracy protest movement in 2011, the authorities have systematically eliminated a broad range of political rights and civil liberties, dismantled the political opposition, and cracked down on persistent dissent concentrated among the Shiite population." |
| Qatar | 25/100 — Not Free | "Qatar’s hereditary emir holds all executive and legislative authority and ultimately controls the judiciary. Political parties are not permitted, and public participation in the political arena is extremely limited. While Qatari citizens are among the wealthiest in the world, most of the population consists of noncitizens with no political rights, few civil liberties, and limited access to economic opportunity." Trump is using a Qatari account to illegally hold proceeds from seized Venezuelan oil out of the reach of Congress and U.S. courts. |
The country rated highest in this group on the Freedom House index, Albania, is 86th in the world overall. Canada is 4th.
Why does this matter?
- Throwing a tantrum isn't the best way to promote your diplomatic initiative.
- It's bad if dictatorships can buy the personal favor of the President of the United States.
- This is humiliating for the United States and Donald Trump may be the only person who doesn't know it.