US President Donald Trump wants the Nobel Peace Prize. He believes no one is better qualified to receive the award given annually by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to people or institutions that do “the most or the best work for fraternity between nations”, besides abolishing or reducing military action.
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Trump bragged about his eligibility in the Oval Office on Wednesday when asked if he expects to be declared the winner on Friday. “I’ve done stuff that nobody else has ever done,” Trump told reporters. “I’m not bragging, I’m just telling you the facts. No president has probably ever settled any wars. I settled eight wars.”
Four American presidents have received the Peace prize, including Barack Obama, who was honoured in 2009. Trump says he deserved the award more than Obama and believes the Nobel Committee has a reputation for not giving the award to people like him. “But, whether I get it or not, I have done far more. And I think it would be a great discredit to them. And I'm not saying that out of scorn, I'm saying that when you settle eight wars, and nobody’s ever,” Trump said.
Venezuelan politician Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, gifted it to Trump at the Oval Office. “Last time they gave it to a young lady who's a fabulous person, and she said she didn't deserve it, that I deserved it, and she gave it to me. I was very honoured to receive it indirectly. Last time by the recipient, who said nobody in history deserves it more than President Trump,” Trump said.
According to Trump, what makes him stand out is alleged intervention in settling eight wars, besides securing the return of hostages, and preventing more wars by using the power of tariffs as a threat against certain countries.
Does Trump stop wars or start them?
Since the start of his second term as US President, Trump has ordered the start or continuation of American military action in at least ten countries or regions.
In his first term, between 2017 and 2021, the Trump administration was involved in conflicts abroad, most notably in Afghanistan. Trump carried forward a long-running fight in the region and escalated it before negotiating the withdrawal of troops in 2020.
The biggest US involvement in a war zone is the continued Israeli invasion of Gaza. Though the US is not a direct participant in the war that began on October 7, 2023, it has supported Israel with weapons, intelligence and military financing.
According to a US Congressional Research Service report, the Trump administration, the Trump Administration sold weapons worth $6.75 billion to Israel, its single largest munitions sale to the nation in 10 years.
The US has been heavily involved in conflicts in Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Somalia and Syria among other countries. The military action in Venezuela this January that led to the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, is another event that undercuts Trump's claim for peace.
United Nations experts have said the "repeated and systematic lethal attacks by the United States military on boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific raise grave concerns about the commission of potential international crimes".
According to Special Rapporteur Ben Saul, there have been at least 68 US strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 200 people, on the allegation of trafficking drugs.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he ended eight wars, including the one between India and Pakistan in 2025.
In his recent speech at the UN General Assembly, Trump said that the Prime Minister of Pakistan told him he was responsible for 'saving 30 million lives and probably many more than that'.
However, a recent Reuters report says conflicts have flared again in some of the regions where Trump claims peace has returned, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and along the border between Cambodia and Thailand.
Trump has also failed to deliver on his promise of ending the Russia-Ukraine war, which was one of his popular resolutions at the start of his second term in the White House.
