Nobel Peace Prize for US President Donald Trump?

Yes, if things are to be believed, eighteen Republican lawmakers have nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, for the year 2019. They have written to the Nobel Committee in Oslo, saying US President Donald Trump should receive the prize in recognition to his work for bringing an end to the Korean War.

The Republican lawmakers under the leadership of Indiana Republican Luke Messer have sent the letter to the Nobel Committee, specifying Donald Trump’s role in ending Korean war, Denuclearising Korean Peninsula and also who have played a pivotal role in bringing peace in the region.

In the letter, the lawmakers have praised the efforts of the US President Donald Trump through his maximum pressure campaign and stressed that there is “no one more deserving of the Committee’s recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world”.

According to the Nobel Committee rule, only people including a member of national legislation, Professor of University and former winner of the Nobel Prize can make a nomination. The award will be announced by the end of this year and the winner will be chosen from among 330 nominees already applied for the prize for the year 2018. In 2017, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are still working on the details of the historic summit, which is expected to take place by the end of this month or the first week of June. US President Trump has also made it clear that North Korea must abandon its entire nuclear program before they sit for the summit.

Though North Korea has promised to denuclearise its entire nuclear establishment, officially there is no such confirmation came from North Korea. But yes the recent comments by both the leaders and gesture during the meeting of the leaders from South Korea and North Korea have raised hopes in this direction.

Still, many experts are of the view that it is too early to speculate on the outcome of the summit, where for the first time a US President will be meeting the leader from North Korea and the Kim dynasty that has ruled the country for around 70 years.

According to Aaron David Miller, who is a former US diplomat and negotiator in various Republican and Democratic administrations is of the view that, “It is surreal in the sense that it's clearly premature to be talking about giving anybody a Nobel Peace Prize.”

Even Trump’s predecessor, Former US President Barack Obama has also faced strong criticism and reaction when his name was first declared as a winner of the Nobel Prize. While receiving the award, Obama acknowledged the surrounding controversy, on his selection for the prestigious prize while still in office. Barack Obama in Oslo then said, “I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage”. Besides Barack Obama, three other US presidents have received the Nobel Peace Prize and they are Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter.

The Nobel Committee operates as an independent authority under the government of Norway. The prize also carries the award money of $1.4 million.