<p>It would have been a real travesty if the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to Donald Trump, the man who single-handedly waged war on the entire world through his tariffs and brought enormous economic grief to millions of people. Trump’s claim to bringing about peace between the Palestinians and Israelis can only be termed as laughable since Israel’s genocidal and wanton destruction of Gaza, and the killing of thousands of men, women, and children can be directly attributed to the $22 billion military aid authorised by Trump between October 2023 and October 2025 for the defence of Israel. Trump saw it fit to give Greenland $50 million to save the polar bears but gutted USAID, the one organisation which provided food, medicine and housing for much of sub-Saharan Africa and other poor countries in the region.</p>.<p>The awarding of the peace prize to Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela presents its own set of problems since she is openly calling for regime change in Caracas, well aware that Trump would oblige her in the not too distant future. The signs are all there – summary executions of supposedly drug cartel members via missile attacks on fishing vessels off the coast of Venezuela, an inordinate focus on illegal Venezuelan migrants in the US and their rendition to Trump-friendly countries in Latin America and Africa, the stationing of United States warships off the coast of Venezuela, the CIA meddling in the country’s internal affairs and frequent public denunciations of Nicolas Maduro, the country’s current president.</p>.<p>If genocide equates to peace, the following US presidents should also have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize – Harry Truman for dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson for carpet bombing Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and Bush Jr for decimating Iraq. Among the non-US leaders, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot occupy pride of place. And Benjamin Netanyahu. </p>.<p><strong>A broker of deals</strong></p>.<p>Trump’s fixation on winning the peace prize is driven by greed, envy and racism. John le Carré has drawn comparisons between the rise of Donald Trump and the emergence of fascism in 1930s Europe, and highlighted the “toxic” similarities. The late British author’s criticism pointed to the resurgence of a contagious and infectious fascism. </p>.<p>If Barack Obama was given the prize in 2009 for not doing much to merit the award, why shouldn’t Trump be afforded the same honour? If Trump did negotiate the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, as a real estate person, he would necessarily insist on being paid broker’s fees, be it in cash or kind. The Riviera on the Gaza strip is not just a pipe dream; it is about to become a reality in a few years, the prime beneficiaries being the Trump family and the Trump Organisation. In his attempt to negotiate a settlement between Ukraine and Russia in their ongoing war, Trump insisted on Zelenskyy signing away the rights to all the mineral resources in Ukraine. If Trump does get involved in ‘brokering’ a deal between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, he would want to set up a string of hotels, golf courses, and casinos in the Union Territory.</p>.<p>Several months ago, Trump bemoaned the fact that people from ‘shit-hole’ countries in Africa and elsewhere in the global South were immigrating in large numbers, legally or otherwise, to the US and that he would rather have white immigrants from Norway. Now that Norway has snubbed him by giving the peace prize to a Venezuelan, and given Trump’s vengeful nature, it should come as no surprise if he decides to sanction Norway and ban the Norwegians on the prize selection committee from entering the US. When Netanyahu was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Trump sanctioned the ICC judges who rendered the verdict.</p>.<p>The supposed ceasefire negotiated by Trump is already coming apart at the seams and Gazans are still paying the price. It is a good thing that Trump did not get the peace prize; had it been otherwise, it would have been a bankrupt decision, much like all the other bankruptcies that the Trump ventures have ultimately resulted in – Trump casinos, Trump Air, Trump University, etc.</p>.<p>Who else but Trump would choose to rename the Department of Defence as the Department of War? Make America Great Again under Trump? Not a chance.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is a retired professor; he has written extensively and presented lectures on the societal and geo-political implications of technology)</em></p> <p><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.</em></p>
<p>It would have been a real travesty if the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to Donald Trump, the man who single-handedly waged war on the entire world through his tariffs and brought enormous economic grief to millions of people. Trump’s claim to bringing about peace between the Palestinians and Israelis can only be termed as laughable since Israel’s genocidal and wanton destruction of Gaza, and the killing of thousands of men, women, and children can be directly attributed to the $22 billion military aid authorised by Trump between October 2023 and October 2025 for the defence of Israel. Trump saw it fit to give Greenland $50 million to save the polar bears but gutted USAID, the one organisation which provided food, medicine and housing for much of sub-Saharan Africa and other poor countries in the region.</p>.<p>The awarding of the peace prize to Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela presents its own set of problems since she is openly calling for regime change in Caracas, well aware that Trump would oblige her in the not too distant future. The signs are all there – summary executions of supposedly drug cartel members via missile attacks on fishing vessels off the coast of Venezuela, an inordinate focus on illegal Venezuelan migrants in the US and their rendition to Trump-friendly countries in Latin America and Africa, the stationing of United States warships off the coast of Venezuela, the CIA meddling in the country’s internal affairs and frequent public denunciations of Nicolas Maduro, the country’s current president.</p>.<p>If genocide equates to peace, the following US presidents should also have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize – Harry Truman for dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson for carpet bombing Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and Bush Jr for decimating Iraq. Among the non-US leaders, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot occupy pride of place. And Benjamin Netanyahu. </p>.<p><strong>A broker of deals</strong></p>.<p>Trump’s fixation on winning the peace prize is driven by greed, envy and racism. John le Carré has drawn comparisons between the rise of Donald Trump and the emergence of fascism in 1930s Europe, and highlighted the “toxic” similarities. The late British author’s criticism pointed to the resurgence of a contagious and infectious fascism. </p>.<p>If Barack Obama was given the prize in 2009 for not doing much to merit the award, why shouldn’t Trump be afforded the same honour? If Trump did negotiate the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, as a real estate person, he would necessarily insist on being paid broker’s fees, be it in cash or kind. The Riviera on the Gaza strip is not just a pipe dream; it is about to become a reality in a few years, the prime beneficiaries being the Trump family and the Trump Organisation. In his attempt to negotiate a settlement between Ukraine and Russia in their ongoing war, Trump insisted on Zelenskyy signing away the rights to all the mineral resources in Ukraine. If Trump does get involved in ‘brokering’ a deal between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, he would want to set up a string of hotels, golf courses, and casinos in the Union Territory.</p>.<p>Several months ago, Trump bemoaned the fact that people from ‘shit-hole’ countries in Africa and elsewhere in the global South were immigrating in large numbers, legally or otherwise, to the US and that he would rather have white immigrants from Norway. Now that Norway has snubbed him by giving the peace prize to a Venezuelan, and given Trump’s vengeful nature, it should come as no surprise if he decides to sanction Norway and ban the Norwegians on the prize selection committee from entering the US. When Netanyahu was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Trump sanctioned the ICC judges who rendered the verdict.</p>.<p>The supposed ceasefire negotiated by Trump is already coming apart at the seams and Gazans are still paying the price. It is a good thing that Trump did not get the peace prize; had it been otherwise, it would have been a bankrupt decision, much like all the other bankruptcies that the Trump ventures have ultimately resulted in – Trump casinos, Trump Air, Trump University, etc.</p>.<p>Who else but Trump would choose to rename the Department of Defence as the Department of War? Make America Great Again under Trump? Not a chance.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is a retired professor; he has written extensively and presented lectures on the societal and geo-political implications of technology)</em></p> <p><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.</em></p>
