Jakarta. US President Donald Trump spoke highly of his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto when they met at the Gaza Peace Board’s inaugural meeting on Thursday, while thanking Jakarta for its commitment to contribute thousands of soldiers to the security force.

Trump presided over the Board of Peace’s inaugural meeting in Washington a few weeks after the group inked its charter. Indonesia is a founding member of the board intended to oversee the Gaza truce.

Dozens of world leaders, including Trump’s allies Argentine President Javier Milei and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, also came to the US capital.  Trump kicked off the gathering by introducing the leaders on stage one by one, while admitting his strong liking for Prabowo.

“A man that I really like a lot. He is definitely tough. I don’t want to fight him, President Prabowo of Indonesia,” Trump said in the televised speech.

Trump admitted he couldn’t believe it at first when Prabowo told him that Indonesia was home to at least 240 million people. “It’s a big country you have. And you do a great job and are respected by everybody. Thank you very much for being here,” Trump remarked.

The praises did not stop there. Trump lauded Indonesia’s pledge to send troops to the International Stabilization Force (ISF). This force, whose mission is to safeguard the enduring peace in Gaza, will bring together troops from different partner countries. Indonesia was the first to unveil its intention to contribute to this peacekeeping force.

“Having peace, but knowing it’s going to blow up in two weeks, doesn’t mean anything. In particular, Indonesia. Thank you very much, Indonesia. That’s a great country. Thank you very much. Look at that man. Look how tough he is. You think it's easy dealing with him? Look at that face. You are a tough cookie. And we say it lovingly, too,” Trump said, making Prabowo grin from ear to ear.

“We need strength. He [Prabowo] says he doesn't mind. He's tough, and he's smart. And smart is more important.”

Later in the conference, Prabowo unveiled Jakarta's plans to send a large contingent to the force.

"We reaffirm our commitment to contribute a significant number of troops, up to 8,000 or more if necessary. We are prepared to contribute the troops to take part actively in the ISF to make this peace work," Prabowo said.

On financing, Trump revealed that some of the board’s members had made pledges worth over $7 billion for Gaza relief packages. The donors were Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait. Trump was confident that the commitments would gradually grow. 

Just hours before the board meeting, Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Vahd Nabyl A Mulachela told the press of Jakarta’s intent to make financial contributions, but had yet to decide on how much it was willing to donate.

“But we have not decided on the amount and the date of the transfer. We still haven’t worked on the mechanism. The group’s first meeting is only taking place today, so there are many things we need to finalize,” Nabyl said.

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