Trump complains about Nobel Peace Prize snub over Congo-Rwanda peace deal
The warring African nations said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they had initialled an agreement aimed at ending the conflict in eastern DRC – to be formally signed in the US capital next week.
'This is a Great Day for Africa and, quite frankly, a Great Day for the World!' Trump said in a Truth Social post confirming the breakthrough.
But his triumphant tone darkened as he complained that he had been overlooked by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for his mediating role in conflicts between
India and Pakistan, as well as
Serbia and Kosovo.
He also demanded credit for 'keeping peace' between
Egypt and
Ethiopia and brokering the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements aiming to normalise relations between
Israel and several Arab nations.
Trump campaigned for office as a 'peacemaker' who would use his negotiating skills to quickly end wars in
Ukraine and Gaza, although both conflicts are still raging five months into his presidency.
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Asia Times
19 minutes ago
- Asia Times
Trump's unpredictable approach to Iran could seriously backfire
Donald Trump has dismissed reports that he has approved a plan of attack against Iran, and now says he will decide on US involvement within two weeks. This will only add to the speculation and confusion about what the president might do in response to the mounting conflict between Iran and Israel. And that's exactly what Trump wants. This is not a case of indecision or buying time. Trump has long based his foreign policy on being unpredictable. Iran is another example of his strategy to be as elusive as possible. Yet, his approach has always been difficult – and now threatens to destabilize an already fractious conflict. One interpretation of Trump's public threat towards Iran could be deterrence. Trump is warning Iran that there would be significant consequences if they do not reverse their nuclear ambitions. Change or you will regret it. If this is Trump's plan, then he is doing it badly. Successful deterrence relies on clearly communicating the exact penalties of not complying. While Trump has specified a possible attack on the infamous underground nuclear facility at Fordow, the rest of the plan is extremely hazy. Trump said he wants 'better than a ceasefire.' But what does that mean? Just Fordow? Boots on the ground? Regime change? His ambiguity creates problems for deterrence because if your adversary doesn't know what the outcomes of their actions will be, they can't formulate a response or will think you just aren't serious. But current US foreign policy on Iran is more than bad deterrence. Trump's vague rhetoric and his refusal to commit reflects his long-standing strategy of being unreliable when it comes to foreign policy. Trump's prevarication has all the hallmarks of his unpredictability doctrine – which states that you should never let anyone know what you will do. The doctrine is also about uncertainty. The idea being that you unnerve your opponents by making them unsure, allowing you to take the advantage while they have no idea what to do themselves. Trump's rhetoric on Iran reflects that unpredictability doctrine. Trump actively said of his future action: 'I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' This would not be the first time he has used unpredictability in relation to Iran. In 2018, Trump withdrew the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This agreement – signed by the US, France, Germany, the UK, China, Russia and the EU – was designed to limit Iran's nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief. The US withdrawal was seen as disruptive and creating unnecessary uncertainty, not just for Iran but also US allies. Being unpredictable is a dangerous way of doing foreign policy. Stable international politics depends on knowing what everyone else will do. You can't do that with Trump. The downsides of unpredictability will be even worse in a conflict. In the case of Iran, adding even more uncertainty to a fragile situation will only add fuel to what is already a massive fire. Trump's refusal to specify exactly what the US response would be is more proverbial petrol. The insinuation that this could escalate to regime change may be true or not (or just unpredictable bluster). It's also the case that only 14% of Americans support military intervention and so a more aggressive policy may not be realistic. But if Iran is led to think that Trump is directly threatening their state, this could encourage them to hunker down as opposed to changing their nuclear policy – risking greater military action on both sides. Donald Trump is being unclear about whether the US is going to bomb Iran. Even just the implicit threat of US military intervention will damage what little relations there are between America and Iran. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said: 'Any US military intervention will undoubtedly cause irreparable damage.' Unpredictability then undermines any diplomatic negotiations or solution to the crisis. Trump is also risking his foreign policy relations beyond Iran. While preventing a new member of the nuclear club is a laudable aim, any US attack on a state over weapons of mass destruction (WMD) will lie in the difficult shadow of the 'war on terror', the US-led military campaign launched after 9/11. With the International Atomic Energy Agency questioning Iran's capacity to build a nuclear bomb, the US's legacy of intervention over the WMD in Iraq that never were still looms large. Trump will need to be fully transparent and clear if any action over nuclear arms is going to be seen as legitimate. Unpredictability does not allow for that. Trump's fellow state leaders are going to feel disrupted by yet another example of unpredictability. Even if they support curbing Iran, they may find it difficult to back someone they simply can't depend on. And if they feel cautious about the Iran situation because they can't rely on Trump, Trump needs to start asking whether he can rely on them for support in whatever his next move is. Michelle Bentley is professor of international relations, Royal Holloway University of London This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Why US aircraft carrier's voyage to Middle East is causing ripples around Taiwan
The Pentagon has rerouted an aircraft carrier strike group from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East, marking the US Navy's fourth such manoeuvre in less than a year and prompting words of caution in Taiwan Advertisement Analysts said the United States would need to look at ways to balance immediate operational needs in the Middle East with long-term strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, as fluctuating and prolonged conflicts make increased demands on American military resources. According to US and other media reports, the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz halted operations in the South China Sea on Monday to sail to the Middle East to support the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group. The carrier cancelled plans to dock in Vietnam this week, Reuters reported on Monday citing sources, one of whom said the US embassy in Hanoi had mentioned 'an emergent operational requirement'. 01:16 US Navy jets fly over American aircraft carrier in South China Sea US Navy jets fly over American aircraft carrier in South China Sea The latest US Navy redeployment comes as arch-enemies Israel and Iran are engaged in their worst hostilities in decades.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released from US custody
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was released on Friday from US federal immigration detention, freed after 104 days by a judge's ruling after becoming a symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests. The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday. He is expected to head to New York to reunite with his US citizen wife and infant son, born while Khalil was detained. 'Justice prevailed, but it's very long overdue,' he said outside the facility in a remote part of Louisiana. 'This shouldn't have taken three months.' The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. He was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan. Khalil was released after US district judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual' for the government to continue detaining a legal US resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. 'Petitioner is not a flight risk, and the evidence presented is that he is not a danger to the community,' he said. 'Period, full stop.'
