President Donald Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by world leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July.
The nominations, reportedly for his administration’s role in the Abraham Accords and other diplomatic efforts, place Trump in a unique category of American presidents who have been considered for the award.
It has brought forth public discussion on his foreign policy and how exactly the nomination works. The conversations around his nomination shed light on the complex process of choosing a Nobel laureate.
Being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize is not an official endorsement from the Nobel Committee. In fact, the committee has no say in who is nominated.
According to the Nobel Prize’s official statutes, thousands of people worldwide are eligible to submit nominations. This includes members of national assemblies and governments, university professors of law, history, and social sciences, former prize winners and members of various international courts.
The deadline for nomination is Jan. 31 each year and the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member body appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, then spends months reviewing candidates. A key aspect of this process is its secrecy. The complete list of nominees is not made public for 50 years.
The committee said it believes this half-century of confidentiality is crucial to prevent the prize to protect the integrity of the deliberation process. The same statement from the Nobel committee says, “any public announcements of nominations come from the nominators themselves, not from the Nobel Committee.”
Trump is not the first U.S. president to be in the Nobel spotlight. Four have won the prize: Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for mediating the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Woodrow Wilson in 1919 for his role in founding the League of Nations, Jimmy Carter in 2002 for his decades of humanitarian work after leaving office and Barack Obama in 2009 for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy.”
Netanyahu, while handing over the nomination letter to Trump at the White House, stated, “President Trump is forging peace as we speak, in one country and one region after the other.”
Taino Moreno, an honors sophomore political science major at Howard said, “peace means equity, where no one wakes up worrying about survival.” He further stated, “The Nobel Prize should honor those who address deep social and cultural divides.”
The public nominations of Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize by the heads of state of Armenia and Azerbaijan, following those from Cambodia, Israel, and Pakistan, often announced by his political allies, generate significant media attention. This contrasts with the traditionally discreet, behind-the-scenes nature of the Nobel process.
At Howard University, students have weighed in on the broader implications of such nominations.
“Diplomacy sets the tone, but true peace relies on human action,” said Joshua Olatubosun, a sophomore economics major. “The Committee must prioritize leaders whose peace efforts drive lasting social change.”
The secrecy of the Nobel committee’s deliberations means the world will not know for 50 years who was truly in contention.
Copy edited by Damenica Ellis
