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.
Pakistan, Israel
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.
