By Emmie Meeks
Opinion Editor
President Donald Trump was particularly vocal last month about his desire for a Nobel Peace Prize, going so far as calling Norway’s finance minister Jens Stoltenberg in an ongoing display of immaturity and narcissism.
Since his first term, Trump has made it clear that he wants, and deserves, to receive a Nobel Peace Prize and join the ranks of former presidents like Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Woodrow Wilson, and Theodore Roosevelt. Despite his best efforts, President Trump has little to show in the way of promoting peace.
According to The Washington Post, “He has taken credit for ending an ever-increasing roster of conflicts: Last week’s tally started at six and by Friday was 10, ‘if you think about pre-wars,’ Trump said.”
Trump’s supposed roster includes the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, India and Pakistan, and Israel and Gaza, to name a few.
In reality, Trump has had little to do with any real conflict resolution, and speculating about “pre-wars” does not provide real evidence of meeting the criteria for the Prize.
In fact, Trump caused a stir among foreign administrators with such claims.
According to The New York Times, “Mr. Trump had been saying — repeatedly, publicly, exuberantly — that he had ‘solved’ the military conflict between India and Pakistan, a dispute that dates back more than 75 years and is far deeper and more complicated than Mr. Trump was making it out to be…[Prime Minister Modi] told Mr. Trump that U.S. involvement had nothing to do with the recent cease-fire. It had been settled directly between India and Pakistan.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, once a close ally of Trump, has recently changed his tune after increased tariffs and Trump’s insulting credit-taking maneuver. Modi has also pushed back against President Trump’s attempt to pressure him into submitting a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
On the same call with Modi, “[Trump] mentioned that Pakistan was going to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor for which he had been openly campaigning. The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that Mr. Modi should do the same,” according to The Times.
However, Modi and Stoltenberg are not the only high-profile figures President Trump has tried to sway.
According to The Post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented Trump with a nomination letter. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan were vocal with their support for Trump’s nomination.
Trump has shown time and time again that he expects the world to bow down to him, and he is not afraid to voice it. He also has no problem expressing his feelings through immature avenues.
According to The Guardian, “Trump took to Truth Social in June, saying: ‘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, but the people know, and that’s all that matters to me!’”
Emotional outbursts, such as his tirades on Truth Social and pressuring world leaders for nominations, have made Norwegian committee members wary of Trump’s desire for a nomination.
Several of the five committee members who decide the laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize have been outspoken in their opposition to Trump as well.
Trump’s hopes of receiving the Prize will fall flat since the nomination window ended on Jan. 31 and committee members could only add additional names until Feb. 28, according to the Nobel Peace Prize website.
Trump clearly has no intention of abiding by the rules of the Nobel Foundation, though this is unsurprising considering his blatant disregard for much larger rules, such as the Constitution. Trump’s ongoing power-grab and persuasion schemes are further evidence of his inability to acknowledge his own faults and the truth.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Photo Caption: President Trump’s desire for a Nobel Peace Prize falls flat in the face of his actions.