January 21, 2026
WHEN: Today, Wednesday, January 21, 2026
WHERE: CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange”
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff during CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” (M-F, 5AM-6AM ET) today, Wednesday, January 21 in Davos, Switzerland.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
SARA EISEN: I'm here with the Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, who is in the middle of negotiating many peace discussions. And he's here in Davos, Switzerland, ahead of the president's arrival. Steve, it's great to see you.
STEVE WITKOFF: Nice to see you, too, Sara. Thank you.
EISEN: And have a chance to get an update on some of what you're working on. So first, the Board of Peace. How's this going?
WITKOFF: I think it's going great. We have tremendous response from world leaders. I think we have north of 20, maybe 25 world leaders who have already accepted. And I think the president will give a very interest -- a very significant speech with regard to this. And we're excited. The president has single-handedly, as you know, settled eight wars. And it's important to him that we settle all the conflicts out there. And the Board of Peace is an integral part of that.
EISEN: What is it exactly? Some people say it's a U.N. alternative.
WITKOFF: No, no. It's just -- it's a great group of leaders coming together with great opinion and sharing opinion to achieve peace. And that's what we need. Sometimes I -- I say that my title should be the secretary of miscommunication. And the president is doing that. He's cleaning up miscommunication out there. He's bringing people together so that we can solve conflict.
EISEN: What do you mean? What are you referring to specifically around this?
WITKOFF: Russia-Ukraine, Iran, things happening in the Sudan, just so many things. The upsurge in Syria. A lot of these things are just about miscommunication and bridging relationships.
EISEN: And that's where you come in. I mean, you've been involved in a number of discussions now with President Putin. Is there progress?
WITKOFF: Well, that's true. But it is President Trump. I'm an emissary of his. I really am. Nothing would be possible without -- without his -- what I call his indomitable personality.
EISEN: And -- so, what is the -- the current status of the Russia negotiations?
WITKOFF: Well, you've heard the Ukrainians. They said that we're making more progress than they've seen in the last several years. We're making that progress since Geneva. So, lots of progress in the last six or eight weeks. We'll be meeting them this evening. I believe that we'll be seeing the Russians. Jared and I sometime on Thursday evening. And I think we're bringing everyone closer. The Ukrainians were our guests in Miami this past weekend. And we think we're -- we're making a lot of progress. And hopefully we'll have something good to announce soon.
EISEN: Do you have a sort of framework or contours of what a deal would look like here?
WITKOFF: Well, it's our 20-point plan. And we're massaging it and harmonizing it. And I think we're down to land deals now. That's been the 800-pound elephant in the room.
EISEN: Yup.
WITKOFF: And I think we have some very, very good ideas around that. And hopefully we'll be able to make some progress there.
EISEN: And President Putin, you think we'll get there?
WITKOFF: I do.
EISEN: Why?
WITKOFF: I do.
EISEN: What gives you that confidence?
WITKOFF: Well, look, we have to go meet him on Thursday. But it's the Russians who are asking for that meeting. I think that's a significant statement on their part. And I think everybody -- I just sense that everybody wants peace there, that it's time.
EISEN: Is he joining the Board of Peace?
WITKOFF: I think so. I think so. Yeah, I think—
EISEN: Is President Macron?
WITKOFF: I think an invitation has been -- been sent out to President Putin by -- by President Trump.
EISEN: What about President Macron? There was some drama around that.
WITKOFF: I hope so. I like President Macron, so I hope he joins. I think he'd be very helpful and very useful.
EISEN: And is there set to be a signing on Thursday, as the president announced, here in Davos?
WITKOFF: Yeah, there'll be -- there'll be -- there'll be some -- some ceremonial events around it. You'll hear much about it today. The president, I believe, is making two speeches today, one on affordability and the other on the Board of Peace. So, I think over the next 24 hours there'll be a lot of discussion and conversation around it.
EISEN: And is Israel fully on board? I know that there was some consternation around who is involved in the Board of Peace. For instance, the Turkish president, who has called for the end of the Zionist state. Is it appropriate for him to be on the Board, figuring out what happens with Gaza?
WITKOFF: Well, I talked to the prime minister the other day, Prime Minister Netanyahu. He's a great guy, cares about his country, great patriot. And he -- he is -- he was exuberant about joining the Board of Peace. He knows that it's an important endeavor on the president's part. And Prime Minister Netanyahu has been a great partner of our country. And President Trump says that all the time. So, I think he feels really good about that. There is some friction between Israel and Turkey and Qatar. And we're all aware of it. And what we're trying to do is to, is to make sure that, that's, just to make sure that the communication is better between the two countries. And people are realizing that we're all here to achieve the same thing.
EISEN: And what are the next steps in Gaza?
WITKOFF: Well, we're in Phase II.
EISEN: Yup.
WITKOFF: And that's a really big achievement.
EISEN: Hamas disarming?
WITKOFF: Well, we haven't had -- had the disarmament yet, but we're confident they're going to do it. And what all indications are is that they're receptive to demilitarizing. So, that's a big deal. But, Sara, we've stood up. And Jared and the team have done just an exceptional job. I'm in awe. We've stood up a new government for the first time that is terrorism free. And the people, I think, are exultant about it. We're getting rave reviews. And, you know, this is the president at work again. And he didn't stop. We had phase one. We could have stopped there. No, it wasn't enough to just get the hostages out. Now, we want the permanent peace. And that will change directionally everything in the Middle East. Jared and I spoke yesterday about this to a group of, of leaders and foreign ministers. And I think everybody is really bought into it.
EISEN: How does Iran play into this? There was some hope. Certainly, the president said help is on the way for the protesters, that this was the beginning of the end of the regime. Are you negotiating with them?
WITKOFF: Well, we're not negotiating with them now. But we've had contact with them. And as the president said, that contact led them to make a statement that the killings would stop. And that—
EISEN: Have the killings stopped?
WITKOFF: Well, it's hard to tell.
EISEN: Yeah.
WITKOFF: I mean, there's certainly been plenty of killings, more than necessary, that's for sure. I think Iran is, is a deal that ought to happen. That's -- that's my opinion.
EISEN: What is the deal?
WITKOFF: Well, I don't want to get into the details right now. So, we've had a lot of conversation with them. Obviously, the deal has to do with missiles. It has to do with enrichment. It has to do with non-state actor proxies. It has to do with the material. But in my mind, that ought to be things that -- that we can find consensus on. And if we can't find consensus on it, I don't think it's such a good day for that country or for the world at large. So, hopefully we'll be able to find consensus.
EISEN: Were you surprised there were no college protests around the murders in Iran in the U.S.?
WITKOFF: Nothing -- nothing surprises me like that. I think sometimes the world's a little bit upside down. There should be protests because plenty of good, decent, innocent people died. And, you know, they were -- they were mowed down. They had no ability to defend themselves. They were just out there expressing their right to protest. And they were killed. And that's horrible. My heart goes out to those families.
EISEN: Steve Witkoff, thank you. It was a real pleasure getting to do the trip around the world with you for all the pots that you have boiling, which is amazing.
WITKOFF: Thank you, Sara.
EISEN: Yeah, it's really good to see you.
WITKOFF: Thanks for having me.
EISEN: The -- the minister of miscommunication, otherwise known as the Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, here with the administration.
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