President Donald Trump's desperation to win a Nobel Peace Prize is now a "running joke" among diplomats at their regular gathering.
When Trump returned to office earlier this year, he made it clear he wants the famed award, according to Sidney Blumenthal's analysis for The Guardian.
"In just a few hours, the Peace Research Institute Oslo in Norway will make its announcement, which is a major factor to why Trump has pushed the Gaza ceasefire talks to Thursday, hours before the European group will decide the award recipient," Blumenthal explains.
"The obsession has become a running joke among foreign diplomats seeking to lobby their interests, including at a regular breakfast among European ambassadors where a common topic is how to keep Trump engaged in the support of Ukraine," he adds.
Trump even pointed to two calls for him to receive the award on his Truth Social platform on Thursday after announcing the ceasefire negotiations were pushing forward.
“Anytime he is talking about solving seven wars, he is really sending a message: give me the Nobel,” one senior European diplomat based in Washington, D.C., told the writer.
Trump's work to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas has been recognized as commendable; however, experts also point to his pausing the attempts to end the war in Ukraine and pressuring Russia.
And the timing is notable, Blumenthal writes.
“Once he figured out that was too hard, we’re back to Gaza,” the diplomat told Blumenthal.
"In a delicious bit of irony, the Norwegian committee told Agence-France Presse that it had held its final meeting on Monday – two days before Trump announced the first phase of the peace deal on Truth Social," he writes.
"But amid the naked ambition behind Trump’s push for peace in Gaza, even those who have been highly critical of the war have hailed the deal as a major achievement."
