Peace offering? Donald Trump's Nobel obsession

New Straits Times

4 days ago

A craving for international prestige, a decade-long Obama rivalry and perhaps a dash of provocation: a mercurial melange of factors is at play in Donald Trump's obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize.
"It's well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on July 31, prompting reactions of disbelief and sarcasm from the Republican leader's opponents.
Since his January 20 return to power, the US president "has brokered, on average, one peace deal or ceasefire per month," Leavitt said, citing as examples his mediations between India and Pakistan; Cambodia and Thailand; Egypt and Ethiopia; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Serbia and Kosovo; and others.
His leading spokeswoman also mentioned Iran, where Trump ordered US strikes against the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities, as evidence of decisions Leavitt claims have contributed to world peace.
She made no mention of the conflict in Ukraine, which Trump pledged multiple times to end on "day one" of his term, or the war in Gaza, which rumbles on and for which the US supplies Israel with weapons.
For some foreign leaders, mentioning the prestigious award has become a sign of diplomatic goodwill toward an American president who envisions himself as a peacemaker.
Pakistan nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
During an early July meeting at the White House, a journalist asked the presidents of Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, and Gabon whether Trump deserved the award.
Basking in the flattering responses from the African leaders, a smiling Trump said: "We could do this all day long."
Tens of thousands of people can offer a nomination to the Nobel committee, including lawmakers, ministers, certain university professors, former laureates and members of the committee themselves.
Nominations are due by January 31, with the announcement coming in October – this year on the 10th of the month.
Law professor Anat Alon-Beck, who is an Israeli-American, submitted Trump's name to the committee's five members, who were appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.
The assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law told AFP she did so because of the "extraordinary leadership" and "strategic brilliance" he has shown, in her opinion, in advancing peace and securing the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
For some, the prospect of handing the prize to someone who has upended the international order is untenable.
"Nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize is like entering a hyena in a dog show," US history and politics researcher Emma Shortis wrote on news site The Conversation.
"Of course Trump does not deserve it."
The American president disagrees.
"I deserve it, but they will never give it to me," Trump told reporters in February as he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, lamenting not ticking the Nobel box in his life.
"No, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be," Trump griped on his Truth Social platform in June.
"But the people know, and that's all that matters to me!"
Trump is well-known as someone who is particularly fond of accolades and prizes, Garret Martin, a professor of international relations at American University, told AFP, "so he would welcome this major international recognition."
And since the beginning of his presidential ambitions 10 years ago, "he has put himself in opposition to Barack Obama, who famously won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009," Martin added.
The prize awarded to the Democratic former president, barely nine months after he took office, sparked heated debate – and continues to do so.
"If I were named Obama I would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds," Trump bellyached in October 2024, during the final stretch of the presidential campaign.
Three other US presidents have also been so honoured: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter.
The prize was also awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973 for his efforts to help end the war in Vietnam. The choice of the one-time US secretary of state was heavily criticised.
The full list of Nobel Peace Prize nominees is confidential – except for individual announcements by sponsors – but their number is made public. In 2025, there are 338 nominees.
Some betting sites have Trump in second place to win, behind Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.