Donald Trump Claims He Would Have Received Nobel Peace Prize ‘If They Gave It Out Fairly’
Donald Trump volleyed with reporters on Monday, and during the exchange, the president complained that the Nobel Peace Prize process was rigged against him. According to Politico, President Trump asserted that he would have received the prize by now, but that the selection committee didn’t use a fair process to select recipients.
“I would get a Nobel prize for a lot of things, if they give it out fairly, which they don’t,” he said.
Trump was speaking with reporters before a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, in which he was slated to discuss the disputed region of Kashmir, which sits between India and Pakistan. A Pakistani reporter mentioned that Trump should work to broker peace in the region, which India recently clamped down on.
“They gave one to Obama immediately upon his ascent to the presidency and he had no idea why he got it,” Trump said. “You know what? That was the only thing I agreed with him on.”
The comment elicited a laugh from Khan, who sat next to Trump as he was speaking.
During his first year in office, President Obama received the Nobel prize for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy.” The award was met with skepticism among many who felt that it was too soon for the then-president to receive such an honor, particularly given that the war in the Middle East continued to rage.
It’s not the first time Trump has attacked the prize committee. He has said in the past that he should receive the prestigious award for bringing peace to the Korean peninsula, this despite the fact that it appears that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is proceeding with his quest to develop nuclear weapons.
Trump welcomes Nobel Prize suggestion from reporter pic.twitter.com/pMaQBIlJLB
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 23, 2019
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated Trump for the prize earlier this year, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in reportedly said in April that he was deserving of the recognition for his efforts on the peninsula.
When asked if he thought if he deserved the prize, he responded that “Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it.”
Winners for the prize are expected to be announced in October.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Trump has been in the spotlight this week for a call that he had in July with the leader of Ukraine, during which he allegedly pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into Joe Biden and his son’s dealings in the region. The president has denied any wrongdoing, but critics say that the conversation could amount to seeking help from a foreign power to interfere in an American election.
