Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton teased the idea of nominating President Donald Trump, of whom she remains among the most outspoken critics, for the Nobel Peace Prize — but under one condition.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Raging Moderates podcast, Clinton said that her former presidential rival had a path to earning a Nobel Peace Prize ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday — and she promised to nominated him herself if he successfully navigated it.
“He very much would like to receive the Nobel Peace Prize,” Clinton said, according to reporting from Politico.
“Honestly, if he could bring about the end to this terrible war… if he could end it without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor … could really stand up to Putin, something we haven't seen, but maybe this is the opportunity… if President Trump were the architect of that, I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize. Because my goal here is to not allow capitulation to Putin.”
Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin shortly before noon local time in Alaska, and is expected to work to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine War, which has raged since 2014 and escalated in 2022 with Russia’s invasion.
Putin has already stated that as a condition for ending the war, Ukraine must concede a sizable portion of its land, a position already at odds with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and with Clinton’s requirements to endorse Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Clinton's comments come after years of hostilities between the two. Trump has called her a "nasty woman" and called for her arrest, whereas Clinton has labeled Trump as "dangerously incoherent," as a "corrupt human tornado" and an "illegitimate president."
Trump has long sought a Nobel Peace Prize, and has complained on numerous occasions about not being nominated for the prestigious honor, while at the same time, lashing out at former President Barack Obama for receiving one in 2009.
“They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize,” Trump said in February of this year, speaking in the Oval Office during a visit from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had been issued an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court just months prior for alleged war crimes. “It’s too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”