US President Donald Trump says that "everyone thinks" he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, after South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, rejected suggestions that he should win the prestigious award himself for his negotiations with North Korea, instead crediting Trump.
“Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it," Trump said when asked by a reporter in the White House if he thinks he should win the prestigious award.
Moon had said in April: “President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. The only thing we need is peace.”
Also last week, Trump's closest Republican allies in Congress nominated him for this year’s peace Nobel, giving him credit for pressuring North Korea into accepting a possible denuclearization agreement.
Led by Indiana Representative Luke Messer, 18 of Trump’s most ardent supporters in the House of Representatives wrote a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee Wednesday last week, recommending the Republican head of state for his work to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
"Since taking office, President Trump has worked tirelessly to apply maximum pressure on North Korea to end its illicit weapons program and bring peace to the region," the letter read.
Ahead of an historic face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said he only hopes for the US to broker a deal for the country to denuclearize and desist its missile threats.
“I want to get it finished. The prize I want is victory for the world, not even here. I want victory for the world because that’s what we’re talking about. So that’s the only prize I want," Trump claimed.
Iran deal putting an end to Trump Nobel
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had become the latest foreign politician to advocate for a Nobel Peace Prize for President Donald Trump, with the important caveat that he saves the Iran deal – which of course never happened.
"If he can fix North Korea and if he can fix the Iran nuclear deal, then I don't see why he's any less of a candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize than Barack Obama, who got it before he even did anything," Johnson told Sky News this week on Monday.
Should he win the award, Trump will be the fifth American president bestowed with the honor after former Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
Obama received the award despite being the only US president to serve two complete terms with his country at war.
Critics say Trump does not deserve the prize either, as he has so far scrapped the Iran nuclear deal despite global condemnation, stepped up unauthorized US military interventions in Syria, Afghanistan and a number of African countries. He has also threatened North Korea with nuclear attack.