Elon Musk didn’t need a policy paper to make his point in Davos. A joke did the job.
Opening a World Economic Forum session on Thursday, Musk took a light swipe at President Donald Trump’s newly announced Board of Peace, leaning into the awkward similarity between peace and piece, according to Newsweek.
“I heard about the formation of the peace summit, and I was like, is that p-i-e-c-e?” Musk said, smiling as the room laughed. “You know, a little piece of Greenland, a little piece of Venezuela.” Who knew that Musk had it in him?
The punchline landed softly, but the reference was unmistakable. Trump has spent weeks reviving controversial territorial rhetoric around both Greenland and Venezuela, framing it as strategic necessity rather than expansion. But it doesn’t seem as if everyone thought the talk of territorial expansion was imperative.
BREAKING: At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, even Elon Musk is poking fun at Donald Trump’s ridiculous “Board of Peace”.
“I heard about the formation of the Peace Summit (Board of Peace), and I was like ‘is that P-I-E-C-E?’ You know, a little piece of Greenland,… pic.twitter.com/WxKJhbENLT
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 22, 2026
“All we want is peace,” Musk added, drawing a second, quieter wave of laughter.
The moment came just hours after Trump formally signed the charter creating the Board of Peace at Davos, pitching it as part of the second phase of his 20-point foreign policy plan. The board is tied, at least on paper, to efforts to stabilize Gaza following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
But the rollout has been anything but smooth.
Several countries have already declined to participate. France will not join, a senior French official said that the country had concerns that the board could sideline the United Nations. Norway, Sweden, Slovenia and the United Kingdom have also opted out. And at a cost of $1 billion per seat to sit on the board, it seems that many countries are considering the cost of having a vote on a committee that may not have any real clout.
Trump’s response to France’s hesitation was characteristically blunt. “I’ll put a 200 percent tariff on [Emmanuel Macron’s] wines and champagnes and he’ll join,” Trump said. Of course, Emmanuel Macron held his own in his own Davos speech warning against the “bullies” of the world.
Elon Musk says he’s the only person on the planet who would know if aliens are living among us, suggesting we may have to start believing that we’re truly alone in the universe. pic.twitter.com/xz2ECRG3g4
— Enthéos (@EntheoSunshines) January 22, 2026
That backdrop gave Musk’s wordplay extra bite.
While framed as humor, the joke echoed a broader unease among diplomats and executives gathered in Switzerland. Trump’s Board of Peace, initially described as a limited advisory group, has quickly ballooned into something far more ambiguous, with invitations extended to dozens of countries.
Musk’s appearance itself carried irony. He has repeatedly mocked Davos and the World Economic Forum on X, calling it “boring” and deriding the WEF as “an unelected world government.” Yet there he was, delivering one of the most talked-about moments of the day.
The relationship between Musk and Trump remains complicated. Musk has supported Trump publicly, fallen out with him loudly, then circled back again, a cycle that has played out in real time over the past year.
After the joke, Musk pivoted to safer ground, predicting a future dominated by humanoid robots and automated labor. But by then, the room had already heard what it needed to hear.
A single word — piece — had done more than a dozen diplomatic statements ever could. Peace out.
