By threatening France with a tariff on wine, Trump gives away the game

There are all kinds of questions about what, exactly, Donald Trump intends to do with his so-called Board of Peace, but the president is apparently looking for countries to become members of said board, which will ostensibly have something to do with the future of Gaza.

The Republican’s pitch is, however, facing some predictable international skepticism, even as he seems to believe he can blackmail some U.S. allies into participating in the endeavor. The New York Times reported:

President Trump threatened on Monday to impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine, including Champagne, if President Emmanuel Macron of France declined to join his proposed ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza.

France was among the countries the Trump administration invited last week to join the body, which Mr. Trump has said he plans to lead to oversee the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and supervise the rebuilding of Gaza.

During a brief Q&A with reporters on Monday night, Trump initially acknowledged that he’d invited Vladimir Putin to join the “peace” panel, which seemed utterly indefensible given the Russian leader’s obvious rejection of peace in Ukraine. Soon after, a reporter asked the American president if he had a reaction to the French president saying he doesn’t intend to be part of the endeavor.

Q: Did you invite Putin to be on the Board of Peace?TRUMP: Yeah. He’s been invitedQ: Thoughts on Macron saying he won’t join?TRUMP: Did he say that? Nobody wants him bc he’s going to be out of office very soon. If they feel hostile, I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines & champagnes & he’ll join

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-20T05:21:07.205Z

“Oh, did he say that?” Trump replied, apparently unaware of comments that Macron had made 12 hours earlier. After suggesting that “nobody wants” Macron to be a part of the panel that Trump had invited him to join, the Republican added, “What I’ll do is, if they feel, like, hostile, I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes — and he’ll join.”

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Steve Benen

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”