Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said President Donald Trump‘s campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize may be in its “last throes” as his effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine was “collapsing in confusion, haste, and the absence of any discernible meeting of the minds.”
Federal agents searched the Bethesda, Maryland, home of Bolton, a former Trump adviser turned staunch critic, on August 22 as part of an investigation into the handling of classified materials.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email after office hours on Tuesday.
Why It Matters
The Nobel Peace Prize recognizes an individual or organization that has managed to “advance fellowship between nations.” The prize award, among the world’s most prominent international honors, hasn’t been won by a Republican U.S. president since Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.
Several countries, including Pakistan, Israel, and Cambodia, have said they have nominated Trump for the prize, while others, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, have publicly signaled support for a Nobel nomination. The White House has called for Trump to be recognized for his ability as a geopolitical dealmaker.
President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, just eight months into his presidency, in a move Donald Trump Jr. described as “affirmative action.”
President Trump, who has helped broker peace in several trouble spots, has said he is not “politicking” to win the prize, though it would be a great honor.
Bolton’s scathing criticism of Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine is likely to raise doubts about Trump’s chances of winning.
What To Know
The FBI executed a search warrant at Bolton’s home related to “broad concern” and classified documents, Vice President JD Vance later told NBC News’s Meet the Press.
The search is one of the most high-profile actions taken by the Department of Justice against a public opponent of the president. Trump told reporters he was not informed about it.
Bolton, who served under Trump for 17 months before becoming a vocal critic, was not detained and has not been charged.
In a commentary published on Monday in the Washington Examiner, Bolton referred to the raid in passing.
“President Donald Trump’s Ukraine policy is no more coherent today than it was last Friday when his administration executed search warrants against my home and office. Collapsing in confusion, haste, and the absence of any discernible meeting of the minds among Ukraine, Russia, several European countries, and America, Trump’s negotiations may be in their last throes, along with his Nobel Peace Prize campaign,” Bolton said.
He went on to lambast Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine, saying they are in “disarray.”
“Trump’s furious pace trying to move an extraordinarily complex conflict to resolution over the past two weeks was one of several significant mistakes,” he said,
“It is almost surely unprecedented in modern history that a summit between leaders of two major powers on such a contentious issue has been arranged so expeditiously,” Bolton said, referring to the days it took for an August 15 summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to be arranged.
Bolton said a corollary mistake was “the very high level of generality at which the major substantive issues were discussed.”
“National leaders often converse together in broad terms, but almost always after their subordinates have plowed through the same ground in much greater detail prior thereto,” he said.
“Speaking in broad generalities may seem to enhance chances of reaching agreement, but they may instead merely paper over vast differences, possibly serious enough to derail discussions entirely. We are not necessarily at that point, but today, there is no clear path ahead.”
Bolton said follow-up meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders of his European allies occurred with “dizzying speed,” and hopes for a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky and perhaps a trilateral get-together including Trump were unrealistic.
“No meeting appears likely anytime soon,” he said, adding that Trump’s “efforts over the last two-plus weeks may have left us further from peace and a just settlement for Ukraine than before.”
What People Are Saying
In June, the president complained on Truth Social: “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.”
Bolton wrote: “Russia’s unprovoked 2022 aggression against Ukraine is painfully straightforward, and the views of the combatants are completely contradictory. Kyiv believes it is fighting for its freedom and independence, while Moscow seeks to recreate the old Russian Empire. These positions leave no middle ground.”
What Happens Next
The deadline for nominations for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize closed on January 31, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee will not publicly confirm nominees; the 2025 laureate is scheduled to be announced on October 10, while the committee’s official candidate list will remain sealed for 50 years.
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