Poor President Trump will have to wait another year in his attempt to convince the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, as they probably considered his obsession a running joke in their deliberations. Humorist Andy Borowitz, tongue firmly planted in cheek, wrote, “Though the committee did not bestow its prize on Trump, it did recognize him with a laser printed ‘certificate of participation,’ saying ‘his entry gave us many hours of welcome laughter.‘” His quest to be awarded the prize has been front and center since his return to office but that fixation is seen by foreign diplomats as fodder for wisecracks, since TACO Trump hasn’t even been able to focus on the Ukraine situation, despite his claim to have solved eight wars — or is it nine now that his push for peace in Gaza seems fruitful? It’s ironic that the Norwegian committee held its final meeting two days before Trump announced the first phase of the possible mid-east truce on Truth Social, with many critics hailing it as a major achievement. And, besides, the Russia-Ukraine dilemma is just too difficult to mess with, considering his relationship with Comrade Putin.

Trump’s desperation for the prize, coupled with his belief that he would be passed over by the committee, led him to bitterly declare, “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize. It’s too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.” Wow, he was correct on one point, but wrong on the other, and as Clarence Lusane writes on Nation of Change there are ten reasons for not deserving the honor — ten being just a nice round number. Lusane describes himself as a political scientist, focusing on human rights, global racial justice, and social movements, and having given thought and study on the Nobel Peace Prize, having taught a course on the prize at American University, and spending time at the Nobel Peace Center museum and the Norwegian Nobel Institute. In these capacities he has been able to review various documents, such as nomination letters.

From his activities, Lusane is categorized as one who can officially make a nomination for a desired recipient, a category which includes members of ‘parliamentary assemblies,’ previous Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes, members of international courts, members of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee, and university professors. Lusane explains that whole the Committee has “never explicitly stated that such a thing is possible, I’m going to assume that I can also make an ‘unnomination.‘” For instance, there were many letters of support for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nomination in 1963 and into 1964, there were also letters asking the Prize Committee to deny him the prize, most coming from individuals ineligible to make, or unmake, such a request.

This leads Lusane to say, “I can think of no one more deserving of being unnominated for a Nobel Peace Prize than President Donald Trump. His record of authoritarian and antidemocratic rule grows more dangerous and harmful by the day, not just for the United States but for the entire global community. And yet he has been nominated by Republican sycophants in Congress who seek his favor, and global strongmen, including Gabon’s President Brice Oligui Nguema, who came to power thanks to a military coup, and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev, who has been that country’s president for 22 years. They all understand that such recommendations appeal to his need for adulation and blunt any criticisms he may have of their own behavior.” The Nobel Committee keeps all nominations secret for fifty years, so the only way Trump and the world would know that a person nominated him is if they themselves made it public.

The Committee considers a nominee’s work in the previous year, making Trump’s ‘peace’ efforts during his first term in office, and the time out of office, not a factor. Lusane then examines the president’s first eight months in office in 2025, asking his question: “What has Trump done so far this year to NOT deserve the award?” Number one on his list: Pardoning and commuting prison sentences of 1,500 J-6 rioters; second, his immoral and radicalized campaign against undocumented immigrants who are “poisoning the blood of the country,” kidnappings of American streets, and renditions to foreign gulags; third, he shut down the United States Agency for International Development, precipitating loss of education for 23 million children, with another 95 million losing access to basic healthcare which could result in 3 million more preventable annual deaths; fourth, deploying ICE, National Guard troops in US cities, which sparked resistance and violence, all while claiming that troops were quelling widespread criminality; fifth, imperialistic threats to Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal.

Reason #6, demanded Brazil stop “persecution” of his buddy, Jair Bolsonaro, who attempted to stop transition of power following a legitimate election — “a witch hunt” according to Trump; seventh, issued an unconstitutional order threatening two US professors for their work with the International Criminal Court, resulting in two federal judges concluding he was violating the First Amendment’s right to free speech; eighth, bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran under distinctly dubious legal authority, and despite Trump’s boast that the facilities were “completely and fully obliterated,” the truth came out that it was a setback of only a few months which led to War Secretary Hegseth firing Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse who reported the botched air action; ninth, Trump withdrew the country from critical international bodies that work with 46 European governments and organizations to address issues of discrimination; tenth, despite his claim of ending seven wars, he is/was complicit in the genocide and famine in Gaza. Lusane continues, “His unholy alliance with Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu has meant a lot of performative concern about starvation and tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza along an unending supply of weapons for Israel. His insensitivity to the suffering has only been compounded by this disturbing desire to cleanse the area of Palestinians and develop what he’s called a ‘Riviera of the Middle East.'”

“And mind you, I won’t even count President Trump’s ‘pathetic’ groveling campaign for the Peace Prize as one of the reasons he shouldn’t get it. That seems almost self-evident. It reminds me of comedian Steven Wright’s joke: ‘I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.’ It’s impossible to imagine Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, or Martin Luther King Jr., calling officials in Norway and begging for the prize as Trump recently did; or, for that matter, using his platform at the United Nations to falsely claim that ‘everyone says I should get the Nobel Peace Prize,’ just a few weeks after starting his killing campaign with military strikes in international waters in the Caribbean without due process or legal recourse, not to speak of changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War,” charges Lusane. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll found that 76 percent of Americans don’t believe that he deserves the award, including 49 percent of Republicans, who believe that the award must be EARNED.

Lusane romps on with his anti-Trump diatribe: “His authoritarian push to reshape the US and demean all its governing, social, financial, and cultural institutions is itself a threat to peace. He continues to attack a free press, bully universities, ignore judicial orders, abuse the very principle of a separation of powers, and openly seeks to rig elections in his favor. Forget for the moment the fascism, authoritarianism, patrimonialism, retribution, bigotry, corruption, greed, mendacity, and incompetence — his one character trait that should be considered most disqualifying is his cruelty. His lust for revenge and power has brought unspeakable malice and pain to undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ families, federal workers, foreign students, and any number of individuals whom he feels have challenged him.” Who can forget at the assassinated Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, his widow forgave the shooter, stating that, “the answer to hate is not hate,” and Trump’s retort, “I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them.”

The Nobel Prize criteria for nominees, and for awarding the final award, is to “the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.” Trump has a long uphill slog to even come close in the next year. Lusane concludes, “Let Trump continue to whine and play the victim as he manifests his doctrine of intimidation, bribes, and palling around with authoritarians. In the not-too-distant future, history will extensively document and abhor the outrages and inhumanity of the Trump era, recording it with the same disdain and dismay that now is used for the eras of slavery and segregation, or the McCarthy years. Let’s hope that the Nobel Peace Prize never becomes another institution that Trump disgraces and diminishes.”

Satirical writer, Andy Borowitz couldn’t let the Trump/Nobel Show pass without his own contribution: “OSLO, NORWAY (The Borowitz Report) — After promising on Truth Social that the gathering would be ‘wild,’ on Friday Donald J. Trump summoned angry supporters to rally outside the headquarters of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Urging his irate loyalists to ‘stop the steal,’ Trump declared, ‘If you want to win the Nobel Peace Prize, you’ve got to fight like hell.’ In a brief public statement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, ‘What a effing baby.‘”

Trump may have to console himself with news that the US Treasury has released the first drafts of imagery for a new $1 coin to commemorate America’s 250th birthday and the President, who ostensibly will be in the Oval Office at that celebratory time. US Treasurer Brandon Beach says more information will be forthcoming after the “obstructionist shutdown” of the government is over. The first images depict Trump’s side profile on the front side, with the word ‘LIBERTY‘ at the top, and ‘In God We Trust‘ below the profile. The reverse side contains the overused image of Trump raising his fist as seen in photos following the Butler, PA assassination attempt, with a billowing US flag in the background, and words ‘FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT‘ at the top. At this time it isn’t clear the controversial coin will ever be minted, being against the law to display the image of a sitting president or living former president. A two-year lapse is required following a president’s death to have his or her features on a coin, according to the US code governing coin design. Congress has passed the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act, allowing the Treasury to mint special $1 coins to celebrate the upcoming anniversary for a one-year period beginning on January 1, “with designs emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial.”

The law also states, “No head and shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and no portrait of a living person may be included on the reverse of specified coins.” So, does the side view portrait of Trump featured on the front side of the proposed coin, not the reverse, observe the law? The reverse side still features Trump, but the Butler image falls outside of the direct language “head and shoulders portrait or bust.” Treasurer Beach confirms that the drafts with Trump hogging both sides are legitimate, but a Treasury spokesperson emphasizes that a final design has not been chosen — though “the first draft reflects well the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, even in the face of immense obstacles,” and they look forward to sharing more soon. Thanks, we can hardly wait! The only living president to be featured on a coin was Calvin Coolidge in 1926, according to The American Numismatic Association.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and to finance the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, a million half-dollar coins were authorized, portraying the heads of George Washington and ‘silent Cal‘ facing right on the front, and a cracked Liberty Bell on the reverse, with the inscription ‘Sesquicentennial of American Independence.’ The Exposition Commission overestimated the public’s interest in the coin, and though the Exhibition was well-attended, 859,408 half-dollars were returned to the Philadelphia Mint, melting into history. NBC’s Saturday Night Live News Update has an idea that might spur interest in any Trump coin: Instead of Trump’s raised fist image from the Butler, PA photo, why not show Trump holding Harriet Tubman in a headlock on the reverse side?

The Nobel Committee’s selection of Venezuela’s María Corina Machado, an opposition leader driven into hiding since the country’s disputed 2024 election, for her keeping “the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness, and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” Machado has described her life’s work as promoting “ballots over bullets,” with the Nobel Committee lauding her as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.” In her statement of acceptance, Machado said the prize belongs to the people of Venezuela: “It is a recognition of what we have achieved together and a reminder of what still remains,” adding that it should act as an impetus for Venezuelans to complete the task of achieving freedom. Although the White House was disgruntled at the Nobel Committee’s choice, earlier this year President Trump had nothing but praise for Machado for “peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people.” Trump claimed that he spoke to her after the award was announced globally, and that she was “very nice” during their call. “The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me and said, ‘I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it,'” the president declared. WAIT a damn minute! Wasn’t she quoted as saying the prize belongs to the people of Venezuela? Sounds kinda fishy…definitely lacking in truthiness…the only list Trump belongs on is Epstein’s list!

But then, Machado told El País newspaper that Venezuelans are “deeply grateful” to the US president, and earlier she publicly thanked him on social media “for his decisive support of our cause. We are on the threshold of victory, and today more than ever we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the people of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our main allies in achieving freedom and democracy. Venezuela will be free!” Her efforts have become more difficult with the deterioration of her country’s democratic institutions due to despotic crackdowns by President Maduro’s government. “Everyone in Venezuela is afraid of losing our freedom or even our lives,” she explained to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “But above all we are committed to make the truth prevail…and get a transition to democracy peacefully.”

It’s curious that the prize award comes at this time of rising antagonism between the US and Venezuela, with the US military conducting lethal strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela, which the Trump White House has deemed to be “narco-trafficking vessels.” Evidence of any kind to support this action is totally lacking, so they could be fishing boats, pleasure boats or conveyances for carrying paying passengers to other ports — the last boat destroyed was said to have several Columbian citizens aboard. Also, the US has deployed at least seven warships to the southern Caribbean, while announcing a $50 million reward for information leading to President Maduro’s arrest stemming from formal drug trafficking charges in 2020 by the Justice Department.

Also curious is an email from CodePink.org, which decries the selection of Machado as a Nobel recipient. CodePink is a feminist grassroots organization working to end US warfare and imperialism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs, according to their website. The writer of this particular message claims to be Venezuelan-American who knows exactly what Machado represents, whose politics have brought much suffering to that country while functioning as a polished spokesperson for sanctions, privatization, and foreign intervention disguised as democracy. Machado is accused of working hand-in-hand with Washington to justify regime change, demanding foreign military intervention to “liberate” Venezuela through force, and cheering on Trump’s threats of invasion and his naval show of force in the Caribbean. Further, she is accused of wanting to hand over the country’s oil, water, and infrastructure to private corporations, “…the same recipe that made Latin America the laboratory of neoliberal misery in the 1990s.”

CodePink says that Machado praises Trump’s “decisive action” against a “criminal enterprise,” aligning herself with the man who cages migrant children and tears families apart under ICE’s watch while Venezuelan mothers search for their children disappeared by US migration policies. The email says Machado isn’t a symbol of peace or progress, the ideology being a belief that lives are disposable, that sovereignty is negotiable, and that violence can be sold as order. CodePink sums it up with: “If Henry Kissinger could win a Nobel Peace Prize, why not María Corina Machado? Maybe next year they’ll give it to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for ‘compassion under occupation,’ or the Palestinian journalists in Gaza who, with no safety or rest, document the bombings, name the victims, and keep the truth alive when the world looks away.” Too late for debate, or the ‘unnomination,’ this year.