Donald Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize?

on February 03, 2016 at 5:45 PM, updated February 03, 2016 at 7:44 PM

TRENTON — Billionaire businessman Donald Trump has already surprised the political world by becoming a top Republican presidential candidate. Is he now a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, too?

Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, told French news agency Agence France Press on Wednesday that the Nobel committee received a letter nominating Trump.

It has not been revealed who wrote the letter, but the author reportedly nominated the former Atlantic City casino tycoon for his "vigorous peace through strength ideology, used as a threat weapon of deterrence against radical Islam, ISIS, nuclear Iran and Communist China."

The Nobel website says "qualified nominators" can be former prize winners, national governments, professors, and members of international courts, among others. People cannot nominate themselves.

The nominees are supposed to be kept secret for 50 years, but they are often leaked to the press.

Trump is reportedly in the running against figures like Pope Francis and Nadia Murah, who has advocated for rape victims of terrorist group the Islamic State, or ISIS.

Last year, there were 273 nominees for the prize. This year's award will be given in December, shortly after the general presidential election.

Trump leads his nine opponents, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in the national polls for the GOP nod for the White House.

The businessman has been one of the most dogged Republican contenders when it comes to fighting terrorism. But he drew significant blowback for proposing that the U.S. temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S. to protect the country against possible terrorism.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.


http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/02/donald_trump_reportedly_nominated_for_nobel_prize.html

Edited by Joffa: 4/2/2016 10:18:56 PM

Anonymous US politician nominates Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

on February 04, 2016 at 12:52 AM, updated February 04, 2016 at 12:57 AM

Donald Trump is a loser. In Iowa, at least. But he has a better chance of winning a Nobel Peace Prize than you do.

That's because somebody, maybe as a joke and maybe not, has apparently submitted paperwork nominating the Republican presidential candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Britain's The Independent, quoting Oslo-based Nobel Awards follower Kristian Berg Harpviken, reports "an unidentified U.S. nominator ... proposed Trump for the prestigious prize for 'his vigorous peace through strength ideology, used as a threat weapon of deterrence against radical Islam, Isis, nuclear Iran and Communist China.'"

A Nobel Peace Prize nomination certainly could provide a nice little bump for Trump, who dominated media attention for months thanks to xenophobic rhetoric such as suggesting that all Muslims should be banned from entering the U.S. The real-estate tycoon and reality-TV star led in the final Iowa polls but ended up placing second in Monday's caucuses, behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. He's now fighting to maintain his lead in the New Hampshire polls. The "first-in-the-nation" primary takes place next Tuesday.

This week Trump called Cruz and Cruz's campaign "really, really dishonest. ... These are worse than real-estate people in New York, I'm telling you. No, no, these are truly dishonest people."

Surely Trump will point out before next Tuesday's vote that, as far as we know, the Texas senator has not been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

CBS News reports that, along with Trump, nominees include Pope Francis, the Afghan cycling team and anti-sexual slavery activist Nadia Murad.

Being nominated for the peace prize is an honor, but keep in mind that it's not especially tough to achieve if you're a high-profile person. "[G]etting a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize is not as difficult as you might think -- provided you have the right friends," the newspaper The Telegraph notes.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee accepts nominations from members of national legislatures and other high government officials, international-court judges, humanities professors and, of course, members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Past winners of the prize also can submit nominations. That means Henry Kissinger, the U.S. secretary of state during the Vietnam War, or Apartheid-era South African president F.W. de Klerk could have nominated Trump.

Could Trump actually win? If he does, there can be only one response: Nobel committee, you're fired.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/02/anonymous_us_politician_nomina.html

Hope he wins.

Still less farcical than Australian of the year.

Donald Trump: nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian plan to build a giant wall to keep Donald Trump out of Mexico