President Donald Trump’s obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize is a hot topic day after day. Even as the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize on October 10 approaches, and the prevalent, sober assessment from experts is that 'the possibility of him winning is low,' his 'Nobel Prize sickness' shows no sign of cooling down. A joke is circulating in Washington D.C. diplomatic circles that "The only country that can act as a 'super-boss' to Trump is Norway," suggesting that for Trump, who has acted as a 'super-boss' to the whole world, winning the Nobel Peace Prize seems to be the only remaining 'bucket list' item.
The Root of the Obsession and the 'Self-Nomination' Narrative
Trump's intense fixation on the Nobel Prize began after his predecessor, President Barack Obama, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. His explicit complaint, "If my name were Obama, I would have gotten the Nobel Prize in 10 seconds," clearly shows that his obsession stems from envy. As former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton put it, the Nobel Peace Prize is merely "a nice decoration to hang on the wall" for Trump, far removed from a genuine commitment to peace.
He promotes a 'Peacemaker Theory' and claims to have "solved seven conflicts in the world." This 'self-nomination' repertoire, repeated in official settings like his UN General Assembly address and speeches to military generals, expands into conspiracy theories and a 'National Prestige Frame.' His assertion that the Nobel Committee is unfair for not giving him the award, and that it would be "a great insult to the United States" if he doesn't win, is nothing more than an attempt to degrade the Nobel Prize's noble value into a tool for personal ambition and nationalistic arrogance.
'Flattery Diplomacy' and the Cool International Opinion
Paradoxically, Trump's obsession has become material for 'flattery diplomacy' by leaders of other nations. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, as well as (then) South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Pakistan, and Cambodia, have nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, seeking to curry favor with him. This is interpreted as a type of strategic political maneuver aimed at Trump's excessive self-love and contains an impure intention to treat the authority of the Nobel Prize as a subject for diplomatic bargaining.
However, the Nobel Committee remains calm. The Committee's Executive Director drew a firm line, stating that "Media attention does not influence internal discussions" and that they judge "each candidate based on the person's own merits." Public opinion within the US is also cool; a Washington Post poll found that 76% of Americans believe 'President Trump does not deserve the Nobel Prize.'
Nobel Peace Prize Eligibility Controversy: The Paradox of Destroyer and Peace
The Nobel Peace Prize is an honorable award given to the person who has made the greatest contribution to "fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses." Yet, Trump's actions directly contradict this.
He has waged trade wars globally, shaking up the world economic order, is continually mired in controversies over human rights abuses, and, in particular, has subjected immigrants to merciless violence. As a 'super-boss,' his policies, which disrupt global trade and industry and plunge the world economy into crisis, are far from promoting peace and are instead rightly criticized as actions that dismantle the international order and fuel the flames of conflict.
How can a person with such a leadership of destruction and division desire the highest authority award for humanity's peace? This is an insult to the essential value of the Nobel Peace Prize and nothing but a pathetic delusion. Trump should stop his 'diplomatic resume-building' for his Nobel obsession and truly focus on restoring the international trust and human empathy he has destroyed. His 'Nobel Prize Challenge' is not evidence of a yearning for peace, but of his endless personal ambition and megalomania.
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