How Israel, UAE Peace Deal Got Trump Second Nobel Prize Nomination

It can be revealed now that the role played by President Donald Trump of the United States in the recent peace deal struck between Israel and the United Arab Emirates could have galvanized the nomination of President Donald Trump of the United States for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.

This is coming less than two months before the US election and the Republican flag-bearer obviously has something to celebrate, as he bagged his second nomination for a Nobel Prize.

A far-right Norwegian politician put Mr. Trump’s name forward for the 2021 prize, citing the president’s role in the recent peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Christian Tybring-Gjedde told Fox News on Wednesday: “For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other peace prize nominees.”

Adding that he was not a big Trump supporter, he added. “The committee should look at the facts and judge him on the facts – not on the way he behaves sometimes.”

Of course, a nomination is not the same as winning – we won’t know the winner for another 13 months – so what can we make of this news?

SO WHO GETS TO NOMINATE A PERSON?

For a nomination alone, the barrier to entry is low: all nominations from heads of state or politicians serving at a national level are accepted.

University professors, directors of foreign policy institutes, past recipients of a Nobel Prize, and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee are also among those deemed qualified to submit a nomination for the prize. The nominations require no invitation and as long they are entered before 1 February of the qualifying year, they will be accepted.

For the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize – the winner of which has not yet been announced – there were 318 candidates. The Norwegian Nobel Committee doesn’t publicly comment on its nominees, which are kept secret for 50 years.

THIS IS TRUMP’S SECOND NOMINATION

And for the second time, he has Mr. Tybring-Gjedde to thank. In 2018, the right-wing politician was one of two Norwegian lawmakers to nominate Mr. Trump for the same prize, then for his efforts to bring reconciliation to North and South Korea.

Mr. Trump did not take home the prize that year, but Mr. Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the conservative Progress Party, insists the US president meets the criteria this time.

Last month, Israel and the UAE reached a deal to normalize relations, with Israel agreeing to suspend its controversial plans to annex part of the occupied West Bank – announced by Mr. Trump in a surprise statement.