Trump's Nobel Peace Prize Hopes Get a Brutal Reality Check

Key Points:

• Donald Trump’s efforts to win the Nobel Peace Prize, including an unprecedented lobbying campaign, have been largely unsuccessful, with experts suggesting the committee may avoid awarding him to prevent potential pressure or harm to the prize's reputation.
• Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pope and a vocal critic of Trump, is considered a strong contender for the prize due to his global peace advocacy, despite antagonizing Trump with his opposition to the president’s stance on Iran.
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is another potential candidate, though his chances are seen as low amid worsening U.S.-Canada relations and a bitter trade dispute with the Trump administration.
• The Nobel committee faces pressure to uphold values of liberal democracy, international law, and human rights, which may influence their decision against awarding Trump, whose claims of brokering peace in multiple global conflicts have been widely disputed by involved countries.
• Trump previously blamed Norway for not awarding him the prize, despite the Nobel committee’s independence, and a separate award given to him by Maria Corina Machado was declared non-transferable by the committee.