Regarding the deal currently on the table to return hostages…what was Trump’s role? Would he deserve some credit as a peacemaker? (I’m willing to graciously concede that a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then)
I heard on NPR today that Trump threatened Hamas if they didn’t go along with the agreement. This thing is far from a done deal, and could fall apart at any time for a multitude of reasons. Will Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize if the peace agreement holds together? Unfortunately, he probably will.
Giving Trump the peace prize would be like congratulating a doctor for curing your cold after it ran its course for 5+ days.
In considering any sort of “Trump doctrine”, I’ve often thought of Nixon’s madman theory: make the enemy think that you’re crazy enough to deploy nukes and completely annihilate them, and they’ll be willing to negotiate.
I’m not saying that Trump is deliberately utilizing this strategy (he’s really truly nuts), but I do think it can account for Hamas’ perceived willingness to cooperate.
And, in that sense, trump may deserve some credit (in much the way that fire deserves the credit for a conflagration).
But I also doubt that any negotiated peace lasts through his term in office.
Deserve?
No.
Should be given some credit anyway?
That’s a harder one.
It is in the national interest of many governments to flatter Donald Trump. This is almost always wise.
What about Democratic Party politicians? No matter what they say, some potential voters will be unhappy. But I think it will hurt Democratic Party politicians more to be seen as always attacking the other party even when it is successful. The lane for that approach is already owned by the GOP.
No!!!
The peace prize is announced next Friday. I assume the choice has already been made.
Of there is some kind of a deal to come out of this mess, it will be in spite of Trump, not because of him. Like the guy who celebrates a touchdown too soon and gets tackled, Trump is doing what he always does. Latching onto a minor detail, insisting that everything is perfect, and solved, and taking credit for everything, even as we all know something is going to go wrong.
credit should be given where it is due. If Trump is instrumental in negotiating any peace detail, then give him credit according to his contribution.
Probably not. He’s done so much bad stuff that outweighs any good 100 to 1. They won’t give a Peace Prize to a serial rapist who is literally acting like Hitler no matter how many peace deals he negotiates.
Can anyone here outline for me exactly what trumps role was? Was he “instrumental”?
Today?
No. Not exactly, and not even in broad outline.
Who wrote the bulk of that 21 point plan? Tony Blair? Tony Blinken? Someone in a Middle Eastern government? A competent Trump appointee? While the last one seems a stretch, the fog of war is real. We do not know.
It will take at least a few years until book-length journalism tells us. The same would be true if Harris was President and we were at the same point.
I guess it has a lot to do with Norwegian politics. Do you have knowledge there?
Putting aside how it is awarded, I can see a reason why Trump could get it. Trump likes to go to ceremonies, and other nations indulge this. Two times this year Trump was present at a war-ending ceremony where he acted like he was a vital cog. I think it unlikely he had anything to do with those treaties, but it must be hard for the Nobel committee to objectively judge that.
Here are the peace treaties:
It seems hard to believe that Trump personally mediated the end to two serious conflicts, but Wikipedians say he did. Maybe Wikipedia will say the same about Trump and Gaza and Israel a few months from now.
The CNN headline:
Exclusive: Trump says Hamas faces ‘complete obliteration’ if it insists on staying in power
Ah no, I don’t think so.
“Surrender or die” is not peacemaking.
I said “If”.
I have not seen any evidence that Trump has influenced any peace process positively, but IF he does, he should get credit for it.
Personally, I don’t think the conflict in Gaza is going to end in the next week or two. I think it will drag out forever because as soon as the war is over, Netanyahu is going to jail. And if this peace deal was an email, the fact that it was a limited time offer and it sounds too good to be true would flag it as a scam. Netanyahu can’t say no to getting the hostages back but once they are back he’s going to declare that Hamas has violated the terms of the peace deal (by existing) and bombing will resume immediately.
But having said that, let’s say peace does break out. The hostages are returned and the conflict ends. Is anyone going to want to point at what is left of Gaza and say “Look at that! I helped!” If Trump wants a participation trophy for this, by all means. Give him the same award you would give to an arsonist who calls the Fire Department on themselves.
They gave one to Yasser Arafat.
If Trump manages to force this thing through, freeing the hostages and ending the fighting, then give him credit, give him a Nobel Prize, give him a blowjob, I don’t care - there are more important things going on than whether or not the U.S. President gets a “win”.
I think it’s premature to discuss any kind of surprise until the thing is done, has borne fruit, and holds.
If Trump gets the Nobel just for making a press release, and no hostages get exchanged, and Gaza is still getting pounded 6 months from now, then add the Nobel peace prize to the list of things that Trump has helped to permanently discredit.
Though honestly the Nobel peace price was already on shaky ground when they awarded one to Obama just for not being Bush. I’m as glad as anybody else that Obama was Obama and not Bush, and Obama was probably the best president since FDR, but FDR didn’t do anything Nobel-worthy and neither did Obama.
Let’s be fair - Obama’s award pales in comparison to Kissinger’s when it comes to “shaky ground”.
I’d forgotten about that, but obviously it reinforces the point.