Donald Trump’s open pining for a Nobel Peace Prize may actually damage the president’s chances of ever being awarded the prestigious honor and the $1 million that comes with it.
While not mentioning the president by name, Asle Toje, deputy leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said that “influence campaigns” are more likely to have “a negative effect than a positive one” when the panel decides who gets the annual award.
“Some candidates push for it really hard and we do not like it,” Toje told Reuters. “We are used to work in a locked room without being attempted to be influenced. It is hard enough as it is to reach an agreement among ourselves, without having more people trying to influence us.”
Trump has made no secret of his desire to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, citing his claim that he has ended or resolved seven international conflicts since his return to the White House—even if the 79-year-old has difficulty remembering the names of the countries involved. Trump has also suggested he has ended 10 conflicts if you include “pre-wars.”
The president even complained that he does not get enough credit for his supposed peace missions during his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday.
“I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries, and never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help,” Trump said. “These are the two things I got from the United Nations, a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” he added, citing the technical difficulties that plagued him before and during his speech.
Asle Sveen, a historian of the award, also dismissed Trump’s hopes, telling Reuters the president has “no chance to get the Peace Prize at all,” citing his support for Israel in the war in Gaza and his attempts to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin during the invasion of Ukraine.
Nina Graeger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, offered additional reasons likely to count against Trump.
“He has withdrawn the U.S. from the World Health Organization and from the Paris Accord on climate, he has initiated a trade war on old friends and allies,” she told Reuters. “That is not exactly what we think about when we think about a peaceful president or someone who really is interested in promoting peace.”
However, Graeger suggested Trump could still be considered a candidate should he succeed in his desire to broker a ceasefire in Gaza or end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
This provides some hope for Trump, who moaned in a lengthy Truth Social post in June that he won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize “no matter what I do.”
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said, “Leaders from Pakistan, Cambodia, and other countries have called for President Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and they are the best authority to do so because they have benefited directly from the president’s peacemaking efforts.
“President Trump is being widely hailed as the peacemaker-in-chief because he deserves it, but as he said, the best reward is the countless lives he is saving by stopping wars around the world.”
The winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 10.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Norwegian Nobel Institute for comment.
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