Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize after freeing Israeli hostages
Give Donald Trump a Nobel Peace Prize!
Seriously, there’s a good argument to be made that the president deserves it. Thanks to Trump, there is finally peace in Gaza, and all remaining living Israeli hostages have been returned. Trump achieved what President Biden could not: He persuaded the Israeli government, which under Benjamin Netanyahu has been extremely reluctant to end the war, to make at least a temporary peace with Hamas, the terrorist group responsible for the October 7 massacre.
No one can predict the future, and if the past is any indication, peace often proves to be elusive in this part of the world. That said, there is renewed optimism, and a real hope, that peace could return — a peace that involves the safety and security of Israel and its people, as well as self-determination and new leadership for the Gaza strip, under a government that wants to live in harmony, side by side with Israel.
And the man who got it done, Donald Trump, deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Here was the president of Pakistan formally nominating Trump for the prize yesterday.
News broke last week, of course, that the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to Maria Corina Machado, a Venezuelan political activist who has worked tirelessly against the despotic and socialist Maduro regime in that country. I did seem some chatter on social media from, shall we say, extremely eager fans of President Trump who were dismissive of Machado and insistent that the Nobel Committee screwed up by giving the prize to her instead of to Trump. Steven Cheung, for instance, who works for White House comms, suggested that in choosing Machado, the committee “proved they “place politics over peace.”
Now it’s true that the committee has gravely erred in the past, including by prematurely awarding President Obama a Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, just a few months into his first term, even though Obama had accomplished very, very little in terms of fostering peace.
But Machado, unlike Obama, is a perfectly good choice. In fact, she sees herself as a fellow traveler and ally of the Trump — in remarks following her receipt of the award, she praised Trump and even dedicated her victory to him.
Good for Machado, who is a beacon of resistance to socialist tyranny. And there’s no reason Trump can’t win the prize next year, perhaps after achieving even more victories in the eternal quest for peace.
Trump certainly deserves the award more than Barack Obama. If any president should get a Nobel Peace Prize, not because of vibes, or because Oslo thinks he’s cool, or because he uses lofty rhetoric, but because of actual achievements in the department of peace, it should be Trump.
Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.