Republican presidential candidate and Iowa Caucus second-place finisher Donald Trump is many things to many people. To some, he’s partially responsible for the demise of Saturday Night Live‘s satirical edge, while others consider him brave enough to stand up to foreign interests (albeit via Twitter feuds). However, the brash New York real estate mogul’s latest claim to fame has little to do with national politics and more in common with international peace efforts. Yes, peace efforts.
That’s because a report from Reuters published on Monday suggested that, among many other global luminaries, Trump’s name has been floated as a possible nominee for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. Kristian Berg Harpviken, head of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway, told the news outlet that an unnamed American nominator “had proposed U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump for his ‘vigorous peace through strength ideology.'” The Independent added that Harpviken had allegedly seen the nominator’s letter, which argued Trump’s case due to his efforts to curb “radical Islam, ISIS, nuclear Iran and Communist China.”
Whether or not Trump will actually be seriously considered for (let alone win) the Nobel Peace Prize remains to be seen, though his chances aren’t too good. Thousands of people across the globe sit on nominating committees in various countries, and at least 273 nominees alone were submitted just this last year for the prize. In addition, Harpviken suggested that NSA whistle-blower and American expat Edward Snowden, Pope Francis and many other significant international figures were also in the mix for the 2016 award.
(Via Reuters and The Independent)