Donald Trump’s efforts to finish the warfare in Ukraine have reignited his marketing campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize.
When he met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and different European leaders on the White Home on 18 August, he claimed: “I’ve ended six wars” – telling reporters the next day he had, in truth, resolved seven.
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Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the White Home on 18 August
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Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin. Pic: Reuters
Trump’s Nobel marketing campaign
2019
In February 2019, Mr Trump claimed Japan’s then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had nominated him following his 2018 summit with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un, the place they mentioned the nation’s nuclear weapons programme.
Talking on the White Home, he claimed Mr Abe had given him “the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize”.
He claimed Mr Abe had instructed him: “I have nominated you,” to which Mr Trump replied: “Thank you. Many other people feel that way too. I’ll probably never get it. But that’s okay.”
The president went on to reference his predecessor Barack Obama profitable the prize in 2009.
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Barack Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 2009. Pic: Reuters
“They gave it to Obama. He didn’t even know what he got it for. He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize,” he stated. “With me, I probably will never get it.”
Mr Obama received the prize simply 9 months into his presidency for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. In his acceptance speech, he acknowledged the controversy round it, saying: “Compared to some of the giants of history who’ve received this prize – Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela – my accomplishments are slight.”
In late 2019, forward of a gathering with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Mr Trump instructed reporters he “would get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they give it out fairly, which they don’t”.
2020
In January 2020, he complained he ought to have received it as a substitute of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, who oversaw his nation signing a peace deal in its border battle with Eritrea.
Referencing his personal involvement within the peace talks, which had been largely led by Saudi Arabia, Mr Trump instructed an election rally in Ohio: “I’m going to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize, I’ll tell you about that. I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country.
“However , that is the best way it’s. So long as we all know, that is all that issues… I saved an enormous warfare, I’ve saved a few them.”
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Trump: Nobel Peace Prize nomination ‘form of an enormous factor’
2024
At one other rally forward of his second election win in 2024, he instructed supporters in Detroit: “If I were named Obama I would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds.”
2025
In February this 12 months, throughout a gathering with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the White Home, he stated: “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”
And on 18 August, throughout his summit with Ukrainian and European leaders, he stated: “If you look at the six deals I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn’t do any ceasefires.”
His workforce has additionally added to requires him being awarded the prize, along with his press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioning it at a number of White Home briefings, describing him because the “peace president” and saying it’s “well past time”.
How do you win a Nobel Peace Prize?
Anybody could be nominated for the prize, however its web site cautions that with “no vetting of nominations”, “to simply be nominated is therefore not an official endorsement or honour and may not be used to imply affiliation with the Nobel Peace Prize or its related institutions.”
Solely individuals who meet sure standards can nominate somebody, together with heads of state, members of presidency, former Nobel winners, and college professors.
The Nobel committee, a panel of 5 specialists appointed by the Norwegian Storting (supreme legislative physique), shortlists candidates, that are then additional scrutinised by exterior consultants. These embrace everlasting advisers to the committee, Norwegian and worldwide specialists within the area.
As soon as this info is shared with the committee, the ultimate choice is made and the winner introduced every October.
In 2025, there have been 338 candidates, together with 244 people and 94 organisations.
Which seven wars does Trump declare to have ended?
After his claims of “ending seven wars” amid Ukraine talks in Washington, the White Home launched the listing of conflicts the president was referring to – six throughout his second time period and one in his first.
Armenia and Azerbaijan
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Donald Trump shakes palms with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, (proper) and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. Pic: AP
The 2 nations have been engaged in practically 40 years of battle over the disputed standing of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Most not too long ago, severe combating broke out in September 2023 when Azerbaijan seized the realm, which has been residence to ethnic Armenians since pre-Soviet instances.
However on 8 August this 12 months, a peace settlement between the 2 sides was introduced on the White Home, which noticed each leaders nominate Mr Trump for the Nobel prize.
“Credit where credit is due: brokering a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is a genuine achievement,” he says.
Describing it as an “important symbol of progress”, he cautions that it was additionally largely because of “Russia’s declining influence in the region” and there stay “points of contention” between the 2 sides.
Thailand and Cambodia
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Thailand’s appearing Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai (centre) listens to a name with Donald Trump. Pic: AP
Tensions over land alongside Thailand and Cambodia’s 500-mile shared border have gone on for greater than a century, resulting in sporadic flare-ups in combating.
On 24 July, after Thai officers claimed Cambodian troops opened hearth at considered one of their navy bases alongside the border, violence broke out once more, leaving 35 individuals useless and lots of of 1000’s of individuals displaced throughout 4 days.
Two days in, Mr Trump posted on Fact Social: “I am calling the Acting Prime Minister of Thailand, right now, to likewise request a Ceasefire, and END to the War, which is currently raging.”
Whereas it was Malaysia that hosted peace talks, Mr Trump threatened to tug his negotiations over potential reductions in US tariffs on Thai and Cambodian imports until the ceasefire held.
On 7 August, an settlement was signed.
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A Cambodian soldier patrols round 20 miles from the Ta Moan Thom temple the place unrest with Thailand began. Pic: Reuters
“Trump’s style is transactional,” says Dr Samir Puri, director of the Centre for International Governance and Safety at Chatham Home. “He tries to economically induce the different parties to stop fighting – but there’s a huge difference between getting fighting to stop in the short-term and resolving the root causes of the conflict.”
Dr Puri says that this “nuance is lost on Trump”, whereas Dr Zenou provides that “underlying tensions are still salient”.
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo
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Donald Trump with the international ministers of the DRC (proper) and Rwanda (left), Marco Rubio, and JD Vance. Pic: AP
Longstanding tensions between the 2 African nations reignited in early 2025 when a gaggle of Rwandan-government backed rebels, M23, seized a mineral-rich space of jap Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Rwanda, which borders the M23-controlled area of the DRC, has been accused of supporting the group, however denies the accusations.
After months of combating, in June the nations’ international ministers travelled to the White Home to signal a deal promising to honour a earlier ceasefire settlement from 2024.
Mr Trump then credited himself with creating peace in “one of the worst wars anyone’s ever seen”.
Nonetheless, the Rwandan M23 insurgent group was indirectly concerned within the talks and has stated it doesn’t think about the settlement binding.
Though Dr Puri notes it’s “unprecedented” for a US president to intervene within the battle and Dr Zenou describes it as a “step in the right direction”, he says the shortage of M23 illustration means the battle “will likely rage on”.
Israel and Iran
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Aftermath of Israeli strikes on Tehran, Iran. Pic: Reuters
The US bombed three of Iran’s nuclear websites after warfare broke out between the Islamic Republic and Israel on 13 June.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the US, however Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed that the US strikes “did not achieve anything” and claimed Iran had emerged victorious.
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Benjamin Netanyahu presents Trump peace prize nomination
Dr Puri notes that that is the one one of many seven conflicts the place the president has used navy drive, which in itself is commendable. However, once more, he claims Mr Trump merely “pushed the conflict into a state of dormancy” versus addressing its basic causes.
Dr Zenou provides that there was “no peace deal” and the “two sides are essentially at war”.
India and Pakistan
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Indian paramilitary patrol the streets in Indian-controlled Kasmir. Pic: AP
India and Pakistan have fought over the standing of the Himalayan border area of Kashmir since their partition in 1947.
Tensions flared up once more for 4 days in Could following an assault in India-controlled Kashmir.
The nuclear-armed neighbours got here to a ceasefire settlement on 10 Could, which Mr Trump claimed was the results of a “long night of talks mediated by the United States”.
Though Pakistani officers ended up nominating him for the Nobel prize, India vehemently denied any US involvement and that talks had been held “directly between India and Pakistan”.
Dr Puri describes India-Pakistan as probably the most “tenuous” of the US president’s peace claims.
“In no way could Trump claim to have resolved the Indo-Pakistan conflict, which dates back to 1947 and has extraordinary structural causes,” he says.
Egypt and Ethiopia
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The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. Pic: AP
For the final 12 years, Ethiopia and Egypt have been engaged in a dispute over Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the River Nile, which started working in 2022.
The dam is massively vital to Ethiopia, however Egypt says it compromises its entry to water from the Nile. Talks on the problem broke down in late-June and no settlement has been reached.
Quickly after, Mr Trump posted on social media: “If I were Egypt, I’d want the water in the Nile,” earlier than declaring the US would clear up the dispute quickly.
He then claimed the US partially funded the dam – however the White Home had been unable to broaden on his claims.
“I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for keeping Peace between Egypt and Ethiopia (A massive Ethiopian built dam, stupidly financed by the United States of America, substantially reduces the water flowing into The Nile River),” Mr Trump wrote on-line.
Ethiopian officers closely dispute the assertions, saying the dam was constructed “without any foreign aid”.
Serbia and Kosovo
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Donald Trump with Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic (left) and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti on the White Home. Pic: AP
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after years of tensions within the wake of the Balkan wars within the Nineties.
Ninety-two nations recognise Kosovo’s independence, however the Serbian authorities nonetheless doesn’t recognise its sovereignty and, in June this 12 months, tensions flared once more.
“Serbia, Kosovo was going to go at it, going to be a big war. I said you go at it, there’s no trade with the United States. They said, well, maybe we won’t go at it,” he posted on-line.
Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani stated she had “reliable information” Mr Trump had intervened to forestall a skirmish however didn’t give any additional particulars.
When this was put to the White Home, Workforce Trump solely referenced the settlement signed on the White Home throughout his first time period in September 2020, when the states dedicated to financial normalisation.
Might Trump really win one?
Donald Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize greater than 10 instances – by Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet, a Ukrainian politician, in addition to legislators from the US, Sweden, and Norway.
Dr Zenou cautions that international leaders who’ve nominated him are “first and foremost engaging in diplomacy”.
“Trump has made it very clear he would love nothing more than winning the Nobel Peace Prize. So they are hoping that it will be music to his ears and curry them favour.”
However he provides that whereas it’s not included in his listing of “seven wars”, the Abraham Accords, which noticed a number of Arab states recognise Israel for the primary time in virtually 50 years, are Mr Trump’s “greatest diplomatic achievement”.
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Donald Trump with the leaders of Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE on the White Home for the Abraham Accords signing in 2020. Pic: AP
Describing them as a “watershed moment in the history of the Middle East”, Dr Zenou stated the accords, signed on the White Home in 2020, are all of the extra vital for having held regardless of the present battle between Israel and Hamas.
Nonetheless, Saudi Arabia is but to signal them, which is able to function “one of Trump’s biggest tests yet” in his quest for the Nobel Prize, Dr Zenou provides.
His present marketing campaign to finish the warfare in Ukraine could possibly be one other technique to the accolade, in line with Dr Puri.
“Ukraine is the one on which his record will be judged,” he says. “That’s the one on the pedestal and how Trump imagines he could forge a path to Norway and be given the Nobel Peace Prize.”
However Dr Puri reiterates the distinction between “conflict management” and “conflict resolution”, with Mr Trump’s interventions confined to the previous.
“He’s more in the business of managing these conflicts, using economic inducements or punishments to get the two sides to talk. He’s not resolving conflict,” he says.
Finally, he provides, whereas Mr Trump is undoubtedly making an attempt to falsely “aggrandise” his file, his lack of navy intervention (aside from Iran) is commendable.
“There’s an absurdity to Trump’s claims, but like many of his claims, within the absurdity there are sometimes grains of truth.
“So let’s not be excessively essential of a US president, who nevertheless faultily, is intervening in conflicts to resolve them largely with out direct US navy intervention.”
