Trump gets Nobel Peace Prize nomination after Israel-UAE peace deal: 'That is a very important region'
President Donald Trump as been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for the part he played in brokering a historic peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates last month. Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a lawmaker with the populist Progress Party, told the 'Fox News Rundown' podcast on Wednesday, September 9, that the president "should be awarded" for the groundbreaking agreement which helped normalize the relationship between the two nations which had been "hostile conditions for as long as you can remember". He is the one who has nominated the POTUS for the prestigious award.
He added that the Abraham Accord was as important as the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt and the Oslo Accords of the 1990s struck between Israel and the PLO. And since the people who helped make those accords a success received Nobel Prize - Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin being honored in 1978 and Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin receiving the prize in 1994 - Trump should be honored with the same prize. "That is a very, very important region in the world," Gjedde said. "And all efforts that lead to peace in that region should be awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize and also for Donald J Trump." This is not the first time that Gjedde has nominated Trump for the prestigious award. He was the one who nominated him for the same prize in 2018 after the Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. At the time Norwegian lawmaker said it was an "honorable" achievement.
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Incidentally, the last person to receive the award was former President Barack Obama in 2009. Gjedde said that he was surprised by the fact that Obama would be given the award. "I think the Peace Prize was given to Obama because the Nobel Peace Committee leader was very flattered and also very impressed by Obama's speeches and how he behaved during his first month in office as a president," Gjedde said. "Also, he was the first Black president. This was also an achievement in itself. I think that's what the Nobel Peace Prize committee considered. But I think that is not what the Peace Prize committee should consider." He added that the committee should focus on "achievements, not any other criteria'' when deciding on the recipient of the award.
When President Obama accepted the prestigious award in 2009, he humbly highlighted his surprise in receiving the honor. "I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who've received this prize -- Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela -- my accomplishments are slight," he said.
Apart from Obama, President Woodrow Wilson won the award in 1920, for his efforts in ending the First World War and help in creating the League of Nations. President Jimmy Carter was given the honor in 2002, for his efforts in finding “peaceful solutions to international conflicts, advancing democracy and human rights, and promoting economic and social development”. Vice-president Al Gore in 2007 was one of the recipients of the same for his efforts to obtain and spread knowledge about climate change.