Nobel Committee Is Unfair, Trump Says

President says he deserves the honor, unlike Obama, but doesn't expect it
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 23, 2019 4:14 PM CDT
Nobel Committee Is Unfair, Trump Says
President Trump meets with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday in New York.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Obama received a Nobel Peace Prize but didn't deserve it. President Trump deserves one but won't get it. That's how Trump sees the situation, he said Monday at the UN. "I think I'm going to get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don't," he told reporters, per USA Today. Obama had no idea why he was given the honor, Trump said, adding, "That was the only thing I agreed with him on." Trump made the comments when answering questions from Pakistani reporters before meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan, per the Hill. A reporter had suggested Trump would merit a peace prize if he negotiated an end to the tension between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region. "I think I’d be an extremely good arbitrator," Trump agreed.

In awarding the Peace Prize to Obama in 2009, less than a year into his presidency, the committee cited his calls for nuclear nonproliferation and "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy," per Politico. The head of the committee defended the decision by saying, "We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do." Trump said earlier this year that he's been nominated by Japan's prime minister over his efforts with North and South Korea, and GOP lawmakers said they nominated him last year for the same reason. When he was asked during a cabinet meeting whether he deserved the Peace Prize, the president said, "Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it." The Nobel winners will be announced next month. Nicer Odds, a British site, has Trump much more likely to win the Peace Prize than Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong Un, but less likely than Greta Thunberg or Angela Merkel. (More Nobel Peace Prize stories.)

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