Nobel Peace Prize 2025: What are Trump’s credentials, and can he win?

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As the Norwegian Nobel Committee prepares to denote this year’s victor of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1 sanction and persona hover implicit its determination – the United States president, Donald Trump.

Since stepping into bureau successful January, Trump has made it wide that helium believes helium should triumph the coveted prize since helium has, helium claims, ended astatine slightest “seven wars”.

Why does Trump accidental helium deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?

Speaking astatine the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) successful New York successful September, Trump said, “Everyone says I should get the Nobel Peace Prize.”

“I ended 7 wars. No president oregon premier curate has ever done thing adjacent to that,” helium added.

Trump noted that the wars helium ended see Cambodia and Thailand; Kosovo and Serbia; the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda; Pakistan and India; Israel and Iran; Egypt and Ethiopia; and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

What are Trump’s credentials?

Some of the wars Trump claims to person ended are ones helium participated successful himself. His relation successful immoderate different ceasefires is disputed. Still, determination are different conflicts wherever the progressive parties bash recognition him with playing a cardinal relation arsenic mediator.

In September, Trump said helium “deserved” to triumph the prize for the anticipation of ending Israel’s two-year-long warfare connected Gaza. While US weapons and the country’s ironclad diplomatic enactment for Israel person been captious successful allowing the warfare to continue, Trump is besides wide believed to person pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu much than his predecessor, Joe Biden, to extremity the fighting. Last week, Trump unveiled his 20-point bid plan. Now, with the announcement of a ceasefire woody betwixt Israel and Hamas, the warfare is the closest it has been to its conclusion.
The warfare betwixt Iran and Israel successful June ended with a ceasefire brokered by Trump. But the bout of fighting, which started with Israel striking Iranian atomic facilities, sidesplitting scientists and bombing residential neighbourhoods, besides included the US arsenic an progressive participant. Trump took part successful it by ordering his subject to onslaught 3 Iranian atomic sites. Iran struck backmost by hitting the largest US subject basal successful the Middle East, successful Qatar, earlier the ceasefire was announced.
In May, India and Pakistan waged an aerial war, bombing each other’s subject bases. India said it besides deed “terrorist” bases successful Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, portion Pakistan claimed India killed dozens of civilians. Ultimately, Trump announced a ceasefire aft 4 days of fighting. But portion Pakistan credits the US president for helping halt the fighting, India insists helium had nary role.
Cambodia and Thailand saw 5 days of hostilities successful August, and a truce began aft telephone calls from not lone Trump, but besides mediation from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a delegation of Chinese negotiators. So far, lone Cambodia has thanked Trump for his role.
Relations betwixt Serbia and Kosovo person been tense since the aboriginal 2000s. The European Union and NATO person ever been cardinal mediators successful this region. Kosovo and Serbia signed a woody successful 2020 nether Trump during his archetypal term. While relations stay tense, the 2 person not been progressive successful a full-blown warfare since Trump’s instrumentality to power.
Trump says helium ended a warfare betwixt Egypt and Ethiopia. But portion the 2 nations person had tense relations, particularly implicit a hydroelectric dam which opened connected a tributary of the Nile River, they person not been successful immoderate war.
Rwanda and the DRC signed a bid woody successful June, brokered by Trump. The ceasefire is fragile and tensions betwixt the 2 countries stay high, but the woody is holding for now.
In August, Trump oversaw a bid statement between Armenia and Azerbaijan astatine the White House, which promises to extremity a simmering struggle that often exploded into unfastened warfare since the dissolution of the Soviet Union successful 1991. But successful a consequent interrogation with Fox & Friends, Trump appeared confused astir the countries helium had mediated between. He told his hosts that helium had ended a warfare betwixt Azerbaijan and Albania.

“I would beryllium amazed if President Trump volition beryllium awarded this year’s bid prize arsenic helium has not yet made a important capable publication to bid to triumph the prize,” Nina Graeger, manager of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told Al Jazeera.

“While helium deserves recognition for his efforts to extremity the warfare successful Gaza, it is excessively aboriginal to archer whether the bid connection volition beryllium implemented and pb to lasting peace,” she said.

Why does Trump privation the Nobel Prize?

Trump says helium deserves it — and galore of his supporters agree. But the US president has besides often compared his overseas argumentation initiatives with the planetary designation that erstwhile US President Barack Obama received during his stint successful power.

Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize successful 2009 “for his bonzer efforts to fortify planetary diplomacy and practice betwixt peoples” — adjacent though helium had been successful powerfulness for lone a fewer months astatine that point. Obama’s triumph has agelong been criticised, fixed his relation successful expanding the usage of drone attacks overseas, including against US citizens, and his continuation of aggregate wars astir the world.

“If I were named Obama, I would person had the Nobel Prize fixed to maine successful 10 seconds,” Trump said past year.

According to Norwegian paper Dagens Naeringsliv, successful July, Trump besides called Norway’s Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg — the erstwhile NATO main — to sermon tariffs and lobby for the Nobel Peace Prize.

But hasn’t Trump besides been an aggressor?

Graeger said erstwhile it comes to selecting a winner, the Nobel Committee whitethorn privation to look astatine the sum of a candidate’s efforts towards peace.

“Trump’s retreat from planetary institutions, privation to instrumentality implicit Greenland from the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally, arsenic good arsenic infringements connected basal antiauthoritarian rights wrong his ain country, bash not align good with the volition of Alfred Nobel,” she said.

Besides participating successful bombing Iran unneurotic with Israel successful June, Trump besides ordered US forces to onslaught Somalia successful February, claiming helium was targeting elder ISIL (ISIS) enactment successful that country.

In March, helium launched large-scale strikes connected Yemen’s Houthis implicit the group’s Red Sea attacks, and successful September, helium ordered US forces to strike boats successful the Caribbean, including astatine slightest 3 originating from Venezuela, claiming they were ferrying cause smugglers and narcotics to the US.

The US president has besides threatened to annex Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal.

Is unit a no-no for Nobel Peace Prize winners?

The Nobel Peace Prize, established nether the volition of Sweden’s Alfred Nobel, is fixed to “the idiosyncratic who shall person done the astir oregon the champion enactment for fraternity betwixt nations, the abolition oregon simplification of lasting armies and for the holding and promotion of bid congresses”.

But successful reality, the prize is shrouded successful controversy.

In 1973, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was 1 of its winners, for negotiating a ceasefire and ending the US’s Vietnam War. But Kissinger had wrecked earlier ceasefire efforts, prolonging the war. The carpet bombing run helium oversaw successful Cambodia nether President Richard Nixon killed hundreds of thousands of people. Nixon besides backed Pakistan’s massacres successful present-day Bangladesh arsenic the latter’s independency question reached its crescendo successful 1971. Kissinger and Nixon besides funnelled millions of dollars into enabling a subject coup against the democratically elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende. And aft helium won the Nobel, Kissinger successful 1975 besides greenlit Indonesian President Soeharto’s penetration of East Timor. Soeharto was a captious Cold War state of the US.

In 1994, then-Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres won the Nobel alongside his Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then-Palestinian President Yasser Arafat for the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords. Peres had been premier curate previously, would go PM again successful 1995, and was aboriginal besides Israel’s president.

But 4 decades earlier, arsenic lawman manager wide of Israel’s Defence Ministry, Peres had helped program the Suez War. During his premiership successful the 1980s, Israel besides launched a long-range rocket onslaught connected the bureau of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) successful Tunisia.

Myanmar’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi won the prize successful 1991. But decades later, calls grew for the grant to beryllium withdrawn implicit her relation overseeing massacres against the Rohingya, erstwhile she was the country’s de facto person betwixt 2016 and 2021.

And past determination is Obama. “When Barack Obama received the prize successful 2009, critics argued that it was premature, arsenic helium had been successful bureau for little than a twelvemonth and had not yet shown factual results successful promoting peace,” Graeger said.

“When awarding the prize to Obama, they emphasised his visions regarding the value of multilateral diplomacy and disarmament, and 1 could reason that helium represented a reset of planetary relations and cooperation,” she added.

All of these choices, Graeger said, bash shed airy connected the boundaries the Nobel Committee is consenting to propulsion successful choosing the victor of the prize.

“While the Nobel Committee does not acceptable retired to origin controversy, they bash not shy distant from it if they consciousness they person a laureate who is deserving of the Prize,” she said.

So tin Trump inactive triumph — and who has endorsed him?

Nominations for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize closed connected January 31, conscionable days aft Trump returned to the White House.

In July, Netanyahu said helium nominated Trump for the prize, followed by Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet successful August. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev besides jointly endorsed Trump for the prize successful August.

Within the president’s cabinet, Steve Witkoff, his main envoy to the Middle East, has said Trump was “the azygous finest candidate” for the prize. US Representative Buddy Carter, a Republican, besides sent a missive to the Norwegian Nobel Committee successful September. US pharmaceutical institution Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, besides said Trump deserves the prize.

But nominations made aft July 31 volition number for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, according to the rules of the Nobel Committee. The authorities of Pakistan has already nominated Trump for the prize for adjacent year.

Al Jazeera asked the Norwegian organisers of the prize whether Trump’s candidacy was nether consideration, but determination has been nary effect arsenic yet.

What could hap if Trump does not win?

Speaking astatine a US subject gathering successful Virginia successful September, Trump said it would beryllium “a large insult to America” if helium were not fixed the award.

“They’ll springiness it to immoderate feline that didn’t bash a damn happening … they’ll springiness it to the feline who wrote a publication astir the caput of Donald Trump,” helium said.

Within Norway, questions person arisen implicit however Trump mightiness respond if helium does not win. The US has already imposed 15 percent tariffs connected the country’s exports.

The Trump medication besides told CNBC past period that the US is “very troubled” aft Norway — which has an astir $2 trillion sovereign money — announced it would divest from US institution Caterpillar implicit its links to Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.

But successful an interrogation with Bloomberg connected October 3, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eid said Norway’s authorities is not progressive successful the Nobel Peace Prize decisions.

“It’s simply up to the Nobel Committee. It’s important to retrieve it’s an autarkic committee,” helium said.

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