Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will nominate U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. Takaichi met Trump on Tuesday morning in Tokyo, where they discussed economic and security matters.
“In such a short period of time, the world started to enjoy more peace,” Takaichi told reporters through an interpreter. “I myself was so impressed and inspired by you, Mr President.”
Since his return to power in January, Trump has been increasingly focused on the Nobel Peace Prize. He has claimed to have ended several conflicts around the world. Many world leaders and lawmakers are adopting a new tactic to stay in Trump’s good graces — praising his peace efforts and nominating him for the Peace Prize.
Among the world leaders who have nominated him for the prestigious award is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it would be “well deserved.”
In July, Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema referred to the United States’ role in mediating an agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to end a bloody conflict. He said Trump “is now bringing peace back to a region where that was never possible, so I believe that he does deserve a Nobel Peace Prize. That is my opinion.”
On Monday, Trump was also nominated on his Asia trip by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. The only US presidents who have been recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize are Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, Trump met Tuesday with families of Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago and said “the US is with them all the way” as they asked for help to find their relatives. After years of denial, North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had sent agents to kidnap 13 Japanese people who were used to train spies in Japanese language and customs.
The comments came ahead of a mooted meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as the US president heads to South Korea on the next leg of his tour of Asia.
