When Trump administration officials first started talking about the creation of an international panel to help oversee the peace process in Gaza, there was no reason to reflexively reject the idea. On the contrary, at a superficial level, this seemed entirely sensible and perhaps even necessary.

But after Donald Trump announced the details of his so-called Board of Peace, it became obvious that it was the latest in a series of presidential power grabs. As The New York Times reported last month, “In the proposed charter of the ‘Board of Peace’ that the United States sent to national capitals in recent weeks, one man has the power to veto decisions, approve the agenda, invite members, dissolve the board entirely and designate his own successor.”

The man, of course, is Trump — who, as The Wall Street Journal reported, would be positioned to lead the board “in perpetuity,” even after leaving the White House.

A month after sharing these details, the president hosted a Board of Peace meeting on Thursday morning. He did what he was largely expected to do: aired personal grievances, touted the documentary about his wife, threatened Iran with military strikes at a gathering ostensibly about peace and at one point, he appeared to fall asleep. (Insert “bored of peace” joke here.)

But that doesn’t mean he also didn’t make some news. As MS NOW reported on its liveblog during the event:

Trump announced that the U.S. will contribute $10 billion to the Board of Peace, which will aid humanitarian and rebuilding efforts in Gaza.

‘That number is a very small number when you look at that compared to the cost of war,’ Trump said. ‘So we’re committed to $10 billion together. We can achieve the dream of bringing lasting harmony to a region tortured by centuries of war.’

At first blush, this might not have seemed immediately controversial. In fact, it stands to reason that the United States would make a considerable investment in Gaza in the aftermath of the recent war between Israel and Hamas.

But in this case, it’s not nearly that simple. What Trump described was a $10 billion investment that Congress has not approved, which would go to his pseudo-governmental body that has no basis in law.

It’s the same entity that the president is positioned to lead for the rest of his life, giving him apparent control over the taxpayer money — coincidentally, the same amount of money he recently said he expects his administration to give him in his personal capacity.

We also have no idea how, exactly, the $10 billion would be spent, when, where or by whom.

Commenting on the creation of this apparent slush fund, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut called the arrangement “totally illegal.” If the White House has a compelling argument to the contrary, it has not shared it with the public.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.