Ex-Trump aide stuns CNN panel into silence with prediction about Nobel Peace Prize

A former aide to President Donald Trump stunned his fellow panelists on "CNN This Morning" into silence with his prediction about the Nobel Peace Prize.

The U.S. president has openly campaigned for the award since returning to office in January, just days before the deadline for submission for this year's prize, and he's also made it quite clear that he covets the medallion because his longtime nemesis Barack Obama won it during his first year in office.

"My colleagueactually asked President Trumpyesterday about the Nobel Peace Prize and whether or not hethought that he was going to getit, and he said he didn't know," said Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent for USA Today. "Perhaps maybe they'll give itto him, so he still wants it, though, clearly."

Trump's hunger for the prize has shaped his diplomatic efforts and may have pushed Hamas and Israeli officials to reach a ceasefire agreement just hours before the award is announced, and his onetime White House communications director Mike Dubke told the panel not to count him out.

"The likelihood of Donald Trump getting the Nobel Peace Prize is like having an Americanpope," Dubke said.

Three seconds passed in silence as the realization dawned on panelists that the American-born Pope Leo XIV was elected earlier this year, and Dubke continued.

"My point on this is he deserves it," Dubke said. "No, I mean,if not Donald Trump, who... There'smultiple places where there hasbeen peace in the last sixmonths because of Donald Trump.This is a award thatwas created by the inventor ofdynamite, Donald Trumpauthorized the bombing of Iran,which I would make the argumentwithout that the others in the Middle East wouldn't have cometo the table for yesterday'speace deal."

Trump frequently claims to have ended up to seven wars in his nearly nine months back in office, although other world leaders are less generous in their credit, and another former White House aide joked the committee might as well give him the prize to shut him up.

"I would say give it to himso we can stop talking about it,because it is so obnoxious thathe thinks he should get it," said Meghan Hays, who served as special assistant to the president and director of message planning for Joe Biden. "Imean, we could go through allthe number of reasons why heshouldn't get it. He's going toinvade Greenland, the rights hewants to take away from press."

Host Audie Cornish stepped in to say that Trump had not actually discussed invading Greenland, although the Danish prime minister said as recently as this week that the U.S. president was still interested in somehow obtaining the territory, and she discussed his primary motivation for winning the prize.

"Thevillain origin story of this is when Obamawon the Nobel Prize and theperception on the right was hedid not deserve it," Cornish said.

Hays went on to list Trump's attacks on civil liberties and other reasons she doesn't think he deserves the prize, and Dubke argued that Obama didn't deserve his award, either.

"All ofyour reasons have nothing to dowith [what] the prize is given for," Dubke said. "It's like somebody goes intothe hall of fame, but we're notgoing to put them in the hall offame for their actionson the field because of theirpersonal life. It's not all-encompassing for theirentire."

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