Trump’s nominations for the Peace Prize often have an ig-noble trigger
Israeli prime minister Netanyahu’s doctored image of Donald Trump receiving the Nobel Peace Prize
Much of the world has understood how to flatter Donald Trump…or how to get his goat.
Nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize. Or at least declare him the most worthy candidate.
Or don’t nominate him and don’t mention his eminent worthiness for the world’s most prestigious award.
On October 9, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a doctored image of Mr Trump receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. In July, Mr Netanyahu said he had already nominated Mr Trump for the Prize.
The same day that Mr Netanyahu posted that image, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyysaid he’d nominate Mr Trump for the Prize if he sends Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv and get the war with Russia to a ceasefire.
And on October 7, Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te told a conservative US radio show and podcast that Mr Trump should get the Prize if is able to convince China’s president Xi Jinping to abandon the use of force against Taiwan.
It’s obvious the flattery is meant to push Mr Trump to get on with the job of ending some conflict or other that disturbs the speaker. In a sense, Mr Trump is reduced to the status of a performing monkey with tasty treats dangled before him once he finishes an allotted task.
Back in August, Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Manet nominated Mr Trump for the Prize. That same month, Armenia’s prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev jointly endorsed Mr Trump for the Prize.
Alas, nominations made this year will only count for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, according to the rules of the Nobel Committee.
Still, it never hurts to flatter the Big Chief.
The Pakistani government was probably one of the earliest to push the Peace Prize for Mr Trump, reportedly doing so in June.
India, pointedly, did not and look where it is! With a 50 per cent tariff rate for its exports to the US and with Mr Trump making it harder and more expensive for Indians to get the H1-B visas they overwhelmingly used to receive.
