President of the United States, Donald Trump, is once again making headlines. No, he is not in the news for “resolving” a major global conflict, but for publicly lamenting the fact that he has not been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a long-winded post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that a treaty has been signed between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and declared it a “Great Day for Africa”.
By extension, “a Great Day for the World” is what this treaty is, according to Trump. Simultaneously, he launched a self-congratulatory tirade on why he deserved global recognition.
Interestingly, Trump repeatedly insisted that he would not be given a Nobel Peace Prize for this treaty, or for several other interventions he listed, including the claims that he “stopped” war between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan angle – Did Trump get himself nominated?
Recently, reports emerged that Trump might have orchestrated a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize with the help of Pakistan. According to reports, highly placed diplomatic sources claimed that Trump allegedly used his proximity to Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir to push through a nomination citing “peace efforts” during the India-Pakistan conflict that emerged due to the Pahalgam terrorist attack.
The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, took responsibility for the attack. India retaliated by attacking terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan, irked by the damage caused to terror camps by Indian armed forces, fired rockets, missiles and drones which were neutralised by the Indian defence system. All this happened between 22nd April, the day of the terror attack, and 9th May, the last day of Operation Sindoor, codename for India’s military action against terrorists and Pakistan’s armed forces.
On 10th May, Pakistan’s DGMO called India’s DGMO seeking a ceasefire. In between, the US tried to intervene but India categorically refused to accept mediation while Pakistan pushed the US to force India to stop throwing bombs at it. At Pakistan’s DGMO’s request, India finally agreed to pause the military action but before any formal announcement could be made, Trump took credit for it out of nowhere. Since then, Trump has been claiming that he stopped the war, a claim India has categorically denied and said that no third party was involved in the decision.
Reports now suggest that Trump’s love for Pakistan is for a reason. His stance on Pakistan has mostly been a “display of mood swings” often swaying between confrontation and courtship depending on media cycle and personal advantage. This time, however, it seems because Pakistan nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, he agreed to let Munir get cosy in the White House. Not to forget, there was a time when Trump hated Pakistan and wanted the US to stop funding the nation that supports terrorism. After all, Osama was found and killed in Pakistan.
Rwanda-Congo peace deal – Real progress or opportunism?
In his Truth Social post, Trump claimed that he arranged, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a peace treaty between DRC and Rwanda. These two nations have a deeply complex and tragic history of conflict. While any attempt at diplomacy in the Great Lakes region is welcome, it has to be noted that the groundwork for the treaty had been in progress for years under African Union and UN-backed negotiations.
Notably, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have signed a provisional agreement to stop the conflict in eastern DRC. The draft agreement is due to be formally signed on June 27 by on both the governments. While US did play the role of a mediator, it was not alone, as Qatar was the other country that played a major role in the agreement. Earlier, Angola was also mediator, but it stepped down from that role in March.
However, Trump decided to claim full credit and stated, “Representatives from Rwanda and the Congo will be in Washington on Monday to sign Documents,” before veering off into a litany of grievances about not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. While reports suggest that two nations would sign a treaty on 27th June in Washington, giving full credit to Trump would not be wise.
Is the obsession with Nobel stems from Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize?
Trump’s angst possibly stems from the fact that Barack Obama received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, barely months into his first term. Trump wrote, “I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do.” He referred to several regions including India-Pakistan, Serbia-Kosovo, Egypt-Ethiopia, Israel-Iran and claimed to have prevented or resolved conflicts. The irony is that many of these regions remain flashpoints of conflict and new tensions brewing in the Middle East show his “diplomacy” is failing or is it that he has actually done nothing to bring peace per se other than claiming the credit? Is he ‘Gilderoy Lockhart’ in making?
Nobel by force?
Nobel Peace Prize nominations are typically submitted by qualified individuals or organisations. Trump’s alleged backchannel approach to get nominated via Pakistan exposes the desperation. It is no longer about peace but about prestige which he is losing every day with unsubstantiated claims. He wants the prize not necessarily for what he has done, but because, in his words, “The people know, and that’s all that matters to me.”
However, history might not be as generous. As conflicts rage on across continents, Trump’s list of “peace achievements” appear more like a wishlist than a resume. It is no longer a secret that Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize. So badly, in fact, that he has begun listing conflicts across the globe, by his own admission, did something or the other that should have earned him the honour. It does not matter if the Middle East continues to be in conflict or Israel is getting hit by Iranian missiles. In Trump’s mind he seems to be fixated on the notion that if Obama got one, he deserves ten.
