I'm reading "How Trump hopes to win a Nobel peace prize/As he seeks ceasefires in Ukraine and Gaza, the US president claims to have ‘solved five wars.’ Is he right?" (London Times).
"While Trump may covet Obama’s success, some believe he risks falling into a trap by so avidly pursuing the prize."
Is he avidly pursuing the prize or is he trying to prove the point that they'll never give it to him, no matter what he does, and thus that the prize committee is hopelessly biased? Obama got the prize for doing absolutely nothing! Why strive to equal him? The impressive thing is to do far more and still not get the prize. That would be the greater achievement.
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58 comments:
Honestly, is it really about some stupid prize or is it about trying to bring an end to conflicts and making the world a better place?
Abraham Accords look to be the last best chance of real peace. I love that they are open to additional nations joining in. I'll bet the Saudis will be next.
Althouse is correct, Trump uses the non-award of Mr Nobel to Mr Obama to prove what a joke it was.
He might claim to have been involved, yet the relevant Indian authorities say that his involvement was irrelevant to the end of conflict.
Maybe the increased tariffs will have them keep more quiet about it, but for months they have been contradicting Trump and Rubio's claims.
The Peace Prize has always been sick joke because the real peacemakers are never honored. If it were honestly adjudicated and awarded, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves would have shared the 1946 Peace Prize for inventing and building the Bomb that ended WWII without an invasion of Japan and thereby saving millions of lives in Japan and China and prevented a third world war. The Nobel Prize is nothing but shitty feelz.
The other four are headed that way. The sciences are so corrupted today that a Nobel will eventually be awarded to an outright fraud, but the committee will not admit to being deceived.
Obama got the prize for running for President as a half black candidate. He did SHIT for peace. He actually divided us.
"'You know, we’ve solved five wars,' he told reporters in the White House on Wednesday, without specifying which they were."
i'm REALLY Surprised that they didn't end with "without evidence"
He might claim to have been involved, yet the relevant Indian authorities say that his involvement was irrelevant to the end of conflict.
Whenever a war is settled, one side always loses while the other always wins in the sense that losing side does not achieve its war aims while the winning side gains something, even if that something is the status quo ante bellum. This is always true even if the war is settled by outside intervention.
India has still not gained control of Kashmir, which constitutes a loss for India. Keeping Kashmir questionable constitutes a win for Pakistan. Therefore, many influential Indians in Bharatiya Janata Party resent Trump's peacemaking.
War is not chess. There is no such thing as a stalemate in war.
Looks like he’s obsessed chasing the Nobel prize.
As Bruce Hayden commented on an earlier thread: 'Trump has made career of marketing himself'.
He brokered peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in 24h, ended war in Gaza the following day. All based on his now famously successful North Korean strategy.
Such an achievement..
Trump's involvement in 'negotiating' peace more or less guarantees there will be none. His lack of understanding of anything outside of golf courses and his transactional approach is not a good approach. He's still siding with Putin on Ukraine, still thinking he can make Ukraine surrender territory and security for short term 'peace' -- he can't.
I'm going with Trump mocking the prize. It is worth a little more than a Pulitzer these days.
Show me how Trump's involvement may have "intensified" the war in Ukraine. Talk about "without evidence!"
Trump: "People that were in jail for horrible -- you know, they release jails from all over the world and release them. Not just South America. The Congo in Africa. Many many people come from the Congo. I don't know what that is, but they came from the Congo."
“WTF,” wrote the anti-Trump group Call to Activism. “In an unbelievable showing of stupidity, Donald Trump admits he doesn’t know where the Congo in Africa is: ‘many people come from the Congo. I don’t know what that is.’ He is the dumbest president we ever had.”
I suspect as a result of society getting more and more complex we have developed a cult of expertise, where people are prone to trust the conclusionary statements of people and groups that are presented as authorities on subjects. The undue respect for the Nobel Peace prize is just one example of this cult. One of the best things that is happening during the Trump era is folks at large realizing they have been improperly trusted many of these people and institutions. The Democrats keep looking for their own Joe Rogan because they know that many people no longer trust the mainstream media any longer.
And the Left won’t give Trump an ounce of credit.
“Babe Ruth said he hit 60 home runs without specifying the dates and pitchers.”
A fair assessment of "the war" in D.C.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/bigger-ones-thursday-august-7-2025
He’s so good at moving past the sale, to use Scott’s term, and inducing a debate over exactly how many wars he’s ended instead of did any end because of his involvement.
The Times of London gets Trump completely wrong. Althouse gets him right. Trump wants to show up the Nobel committee, who gave the Peace Prize to Obama for nothing and to Arafat for grifting, grafting, and killing Jews.
Donald Trump does not seek or desire the approval of others. And he is his own favorite person and is willing to share with others his own views of his achievements and insights. If you are a member of the press he wants to prove that you are stupid compared to him.
Just trying to do good is apparently NOT a motivation these people understand. They cannot conceive that anyone could try to end a conflict just because it is deadly to people. They think there always has to be an ambition to obtain a reward before anyone does a good thing. That's the way the moneyed class works. In times of emergency common people will pitch in to help others in danger without thought of reward. I know it's a Spiderman quote but maybe, just maybe, Trump understands that his great power comes with a great responsibility. Inaction in the face of true suffering is wrong if a person has been granted the authority and power to end or ameliorate it. The American people gave him that by their votes. Trump may not actually give a rat's ass about a Peace Prize and, as has been made plain by other commentators, shouldn't.
Looks like he’s obsessed chasing the Nobel prize.
He used to be obsessed with getting glowing coverage in the New York Times.
Look how that turned out for the legacy media.
"While Trump may covet Obama’s success,” the Times of London asserted that “without specifying” which “success” that might be other than being entitled to unearned privilege.
Obama got the prize for being there
Trump has no chance: who wants to subject themselves to the speech. Like a new South Park episode.
The London Tomes should stick to writing about the Stermtrooper and spend less time on Trump fantasy.
Trump and his insufferable ego.
The Nobel was converged a long time ago by the same long march through the institutions that's infested everything else. For someone who likes gold so much he should recognize tarnish when he sees it.
Trump did solve the Iran/Israel war, just not in a peaceful way.
Bingo Hostess.
You did not vote for DJT in 2016, 2020, or 2024, but the DJT spirit is strong in you.
Althouse is right. And if Trump's ego drives him to solve conflicts, well, good on him.
He is a lot smarter and capable of the style of diplomacy some of these countries' leaders require. Instead of the U.S. signaling its superiority to these countries, I imagine he is capable of making deals on their terms. His ego actually allows them to save face. What an odd man.
In a narcissism battle between Trump and Obama, I honestly don’t know who would win.
Trump eventually stabs every friend and ally in the back. That makes him an asshole in my book.
Mr Eddy,
I suspect that given his upbringing with Norman Vincent pealed pdjt is going more for Luke 12:48 "to whom much is given much is required" than Spidey.
Otoh, Bible, Spidey, does it matter?
He is living and showing the belief and that is what's really important. Not where the belief originated
John Henry
Obama got the prize for being there
President while being black.
Kevin said...
Obama got the prize for being there
President while being black.
8/8/25, 7:21 AM
HALF black. He just hates his white side.
Lawnerd said...
Trump eventually stabs every friend and ally in the back. That makes him an asshole in my book.
8/8/25, 7:16 AM
Does Obama even have friends? He disowns anybody who helped shape him into the America hater he is, just to pretend he changed. (Bill Ayers, and Rev Wright for example)
The creeping fear that Trump may be successful.
I doubt anyone doing useful things has any concern for the Nobel Peace Prize, it is a meaningless prize.
What would be the response if Obama gave his Nobel Peace Prize to Trump?
Yeah, it's highly unlikely, but we are on that kind of timeline. Obama must know he did nothing to deserve it, and should be a little embarrassed by the award.
wendybar: "Does Obama even have friends? He disowns anybody who helped shape him into the America hater he is, just to pretend he changed. (Bill Ayers, and Rev Wright for example)"
Ah, that's just part of the desinformatsiya strategy. They're all in on it. They giggle with each other about it on back channels.
RR
JSM
Obama. Most racist president in my lifetime.
Jim beat me to it. Can you imagine the acceptance speech that Trump would give? There's no way the Nobel committee would give Trump the floor, no matter how entertaining it is to contemplate it!
The NYT didn't have the balls to use 'without evidence', now that the circulation manager is sitting at the table, that's my guess.
Trump doesn't care about the Nobel Prize - as others say, Obama got one for having a heartbeat and a good publicist. Reasonable people know that the Nobel has become devalued and ridiculous. But Trump is the only one with the guts to apply the ridicule, to the prize and its gatekeepers. They would have us believe that their hypocrisy is really a hierarchy in action. Trump holds it up to the light, then tears down the shiny house of cards. His achievement with the Abraham Accords is the only proof required, really. But if his second term includes its expansion as well as several conflicts being resolved, I think Trump will take that happily, with no Nobel being his preferred recognition.
Quaestor said...
War is not chess. There is no such thing as a stalemate in war.
please tell that to Korea
Great that Trump is stopping the small wars, like Congo-Rwanda and Thailand-Cambodia (the latter hadn’t blown up to a full-scale war yet, but soldiers had been killed on both sides so it was headed there). I suppose that the New York Times, the Nobel Peace Prize committee, and gadfly are not much impressed with Trump’s brokering an end to hostilities between Rwanda and the Congo since the soldiers and civilians being killed were all of them black.
It’s doubly good that he got things cooled down between India and Pakistan, since both countries possess nukes and the means to deliver them.
Ending Russia-Ukraine and finding a way to get China to back down from its belligerence would really be fantastic, but I agree with Althouse that even if he achieves both of these desirable outcomes the Peace Prize committee will turn up their snooty noses at him.
If Azerbaijan is "peripheral to US interests" why are we always stirring up trouble there? Whey did we install an anti-Russian regime over a pro-Russian people? The question answers itself. We did the same thing in Ukraine twice, the "Orange Revolution" and the "Revolution of Dignity," the second because the anti-Russian intent of the first one didn't take, and the people just voted a pro-Russian govt back in, and the second one, Zelensky was elected in a landslide on a platform of making peace with Russia, a deal Russia was ready to sign which left Ukraine intact, but we needed the war for our designs, just as we are hoping that we can achieve the same positive outcome for so many other countries on Russia's perimeter.
We are on the brink of WW3. Russia knows that if it agrees to an "unconditional cease fire" Europe will pour troops into Ukraine, "hey! It's 'unconditional'!" And China knows full well that if Russia falls, which it will if they accept the cease fire, China is next.
You guys who think that it's all about who "started the war" according to the newspapers should read some history books, but I guess that would interfere with your certainty that you are right, and nobody likes that!
The Left: Who cares what they think, who cares what they say, who cares how they feel???
Obama got the prize for doing absolutely nothing!
At that point he had done nothing. He would go on to personally select people to kill via drone strikes, and let’s not forget how his administration started a war in Libya, leaving behind a lawless, failed state.
The impressive thing is to do far more and still not get the prize. That would be the greater achievement.
And Trump loves to do the impressive thing, does he not?
“ please tell that to Korea”
Point of order! That was a “police action.”
The Pax Romana lasted quite a long time. Overwhelming world conquest leads to lasting peace. Julius Caesar brought peace to the lands he conquered, and the descendants of those people who survived his conquest lived in peace for centuries.....Something for the people of Greenland to consider when Trump okays the invasion.
Trump's Nobel Peace Prize nomination was submitted by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s discovery of a 1,500% price reductions on medicine qualifies for economics and medicine as well.
Should his Nobel Economics Prize nomination come from Mike Tyson and MC Hammer?
Will normal people who don't know that a war is going on (and who couldn't locate the belligerents to the proper continent) care that the war has been 'solved'?
I seriously doubt that Trump covets Obama’s “success”.
Trump won't win the Nobel Prize. The Scandinavians don't want him at the reception. But if he's successful, people will be forever asking, "Hey, how come that guy never got the Nobel Prize?"
Leland said...
“Trump did solve the Iran/Israel war, just not in a peaceful way.”
More peaceful than the alternatives.
wendybar said...
“[Obama is] HALF black. He just hates his white side.”
Marcus Bressler said...
“Obama. Most racist president in my lifetime.”
So which half is more racist? The white progressive scold-y side? Or the angry blactivist side?
Or do we just embrace the power of “and”?
LOL! Trump knows he isn't going to win the Nobel Peace Prize- the committe would give it to Hitler posthumously before they would give it to Trump now or any time in the future. What he is doing here is framing the idiocy of what the committee actually does with the award.
My prediction for who wins this Fall- Emmanuel Macron for being the first western leader to recognize Palestine as a formal country.
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