The presidency has changed Donald Trump. He went from whining about not having an Emmy to whining about not having a Nobel Peace Prize. Still, this week, he made moves to try and capture both.
If all goes according to plan, Trump will secure a Nobel for hosting Vladimir Putin in Alaska this week and an Emmy for hosting the Kennedy Center Honors in December.
The meeting with Putin doesn’t even have to go well to guarantee Trump a medal, according to former newsman Geraldo Rivera. When Newsmax anchor Rob Finnerty recently suggested that Trump would be a shoo-in for the peace prize if he ended the war, Rivera agreed…then went a step further.
“If you have a president of the United States trying so hard… for peace, even if he’s not totally successful, just the effort is so, it’s so overt, it’s so public, it’s so aggressive. You know, he deserves recognition at least for that,” Rivera said.
It’s not just Rivera who supports Trump’s Nobel ambitions. Leaders of Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Armenia, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Gabon have all put in a good word for the United States president. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also joined the chorus, even though he wouldn’t be able to attend the ceremony in Norway since the International Criminal Court has charged him with war crimes and issued a warrant for his arrest.
These high-level recs may boost Trump to the top of the pile, but the competition is stiff with hundreds of individuals and organizations vying for recognition and a million dollar plus check. Not that the money motivates Trump or helps explain why he’s so jealous that President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. Surely, as a billionaire, Trump would donate the funds to charities, as Obama did.
This year’s reported nominations include the January 6th Committee “for steadfastly defending the principles of democracy, law and order and human rights, putting these principles above political views.”
Former First Buddy Elon Musk also made the list, nominated by Branko Grims, co-founder of the Slovenian Democratic Party, who cited Musk’s “consistent support for the fundamental human right of freedom of speech and thus for peace.”
Trump believes his rightful recognition is long overdue. “If I were named Obama, I would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds,” Trump once said.
He even reportedly called Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg to chat about tariffs and threw in a mention of the Peace Prize–you know, just real cazh.
Still, if a Nobel doesn’t materialize, an Emmy might. That trophy carries no monetary bonus but it would look great next to a Mar-a-Lago golf trophy and an Olympic gold medal.
Trump has been vocal about wanting the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences hunk of metal for years. At a presidential debate in October 2016, candidate Hillary Clinton noted that her opponent often complained that the courts were rigged against him.
“There was even a time when he didn’t get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row,” Clinton added, “And he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged against him.”
“Should have gotten it,” Trump interjected.
Losing to The Amazing Race clearly rankled the former producer and host of The Apprentice. It probably doesn’t help that Obama already has two Emmys for outstanding narration, winning in 2023 for the Netflix documentary Working: What We Do All Day as well as in 2022 for narrating Our Great National Parks.
Trump taking on producing and hosting duties of the Kennedy Center Honors gives him an opportunity to snare that elusive Emmy. In 47 years, the Christmas-time special has racked up 60 nominations and taken home 16 trophies. The show has been recognized for technical categories like Outstanding Sound Mixing, Musical Direction, and Lighting Design as well as larger creative categories like Outstanding Direction.
In 2016, with Stephen Colbert serving as host, the KCH was nominated for Outstanding Variety Special. It lost that year to The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Prime Time Special. Still, the KCH boasted a remarkable five-year winning streak from 2009-2013 with producers Michael Stevens and George Stevens Jr, the creator of the Kennedy Center Honors, being honored themselves for “Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special.”
In the past, the KCH have featured extraordinary talent to entertain the honorees. For example, when Sting was lauded in 2014, his segment was introduced by Meryl Streep who threw to Lady Gaga at a grand piano to perform, “If I Ever Lose My Faith.” Next up was Esperanza Spalding and Herbie Hancock followed by Bruce Springsteen who turned out to be the opening act for Bruno Mars who sang a medley of Police songs.
Whether Trump’s version of the Kennedy Center will secure this same level of talent remains to be seen. The show will certainly get a boost in promotion this year from the Host-in-Chief and attract a bipartisan viewership, including MAGAs and hate-watchers who could end up reversing the steady decline in ratings from 8.5 million viewers 10 years ago to 4.1 million in 2024.
The Nobel Prize Committee will announce the winner of the Peace Prize on October 10 and the Kennedy Center Honors will air on Paramount+ on December 7, 2025. It could be a big year-end for Trump… if the children of Gaza don’t steal the Nobel out from under him.
The post Opinion: Why Trump Will Do Anything To Get These Two Trophies appeared first on The Daily Beast.
