Nobel Rot

Talk of giving the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump is more than a little premature.

- Paul Thomas

They say everything in life is a trade-off. The trade-off for peace on the Korean Peninsula, it would seem, is US President Donald Trump’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize. 

After North Korea’s absolute ruler Kim Jong-un and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in joined hands and declared an end to 70 years of hot and cold conflict, the latter nominated Trump for the award. Eighteen of Trump’s Republican henchmen in Congress wrote to the Nobel Committee urging recognition of his “tireless work to bring peace to our world”. (I see an issue with the word “tireless”, as due diligence would surely require a comparative analysis between the time and effort devoted to making the world a safer place and downtime in front of Fox News and on the golf course.)

Not to be outdone, broadcaster Mike Hosking has declared Trump “a shoo-in” for the Nobel. Although Hosking suspects “no one really knows” why Kim has gone from rocket man to peacenik, he obviously doesn’t number himself among the mystified: “With a tough stance, hard policy and very specific threats, Trump has managed to do what no one has in decades … Trump stared him down.”

Galling as the prospect of Trump becoming a Nobel laureate may be, it would be a small price to pay should the Korean leaders’ crowd-pleasing gestures and sunny declarations herald a golden era of national reconciliation, denuclearisation, peace and prosperity. Sadly – though not for those who can’t bear the idea of Trump being lauded – there are compelling reasons for scepticism.