It was a historic past two weeks for the Trump administration, with President Trump presiding over the signing of two Middle East Peace Deals, and receiving two different nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The first nomination was for Trump’s work with the UAE-Israel peace deal, while the second was for his Serbia-Kosovo deal.
Trump was also nominated for a Nobel last year by Japan’s president Shinzo Abe, who credited him with opening talks with and soothing tensions with North Korea.. South Korean President Moon Jae-in seconded the motion, and said that Trump deserved a Nobel for his efforts to negotiate an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
It’s certainly a prize that Trump is deserving of – especially considering that his predecessor was awarded one for doing absolutely nothing.
President Trump has said that he deserves a Nobel long before the deals that got him twice nominated this week and last.
Last year he said he deserved one after claiming that millions of people living in Syria’s rebel held territory of Idlib had been saved after he warned Russia, Iran, and the Syrian government against a planned offensive they had.
Trump did express pessimism about receiving one though. “They gave it to Obama. He didn’t even know what he got it for. He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize… With me, I probably will never get it.” And unfortunately, he’s probably right.
While the Nobel committee may not give him the award he deserves, Kosovo is grateful enough to give award him their equivalent.
As U.S. News & World Report reports:
Kosovo’s awarded U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday with one of the country’s highest honors for his government’s efforts on peace and reconciliation in the former war-torn region.
President Hashim Thaci awarded Trump with Kosovo’s Order of Freedom “for his exceptional contribution for the freedom of Kosovo and the strengthening of Peace and reconciliation in the region.”
haci also awarded Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and his envoy for Serbia-Kosovo talks Richard Grenell with the lower Presidential Medal of Merits, saying they were “indispensable” for the deal.
Kosovo, a former Serbian province, and Serbia have been negotiating under European Union mediation since 2011 on normalizing their ties. Serbia fought a brutal 1998-1999 war with separatist fighters in Kosovo. The war ended after NATO conducted a 78-day airstrike campaign against Serbia.
The honor is given to local and foreign citizens for their high contribution in defending Kosovo’s freedom.
The American media hardly praised Trump for this historic deal – but as Ambassador Ric Grenell pointed out, that’s because most journalists probably can’t locate Kosovo and Serbia on a map.
Richard Grenell: "I'm just going to talk about Kosovo-Serbia. I don't know if you can find it on a map…you might be too young…maybe it's too complicated an issue for you all."@jeffmason1: "I don't think any of us came here for a lecture about our questioning." pic.twitter.com/8nXKyCNv3J
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 4, 2020
