With his war in Iran and siding with Russia, it’s hard to think of someone who has done more to make the world a safer place
In hindsight it might have been more, shall we say, diplomatic if Donald Trump had taken a few deep breaths after finding out that he had been overlooked for the Nobel peace prize for the second year running before virtually declaring war on Norway. But maybe we should just be grateful that he refrained from rubbishing the South African human rights activist Navi Pillay, who picked up the award, and shelved his plans to livestream the execution of the Norwegian prize committee. There again, you can understand the US president’s frustration. For it’s hard to think of someone who has done more to make the world a safer place. Where would we be had not The Donald started a war with Iran which he shows no sign of knowing how to finish and which has forced up the price of global energy? And it was so good to see Trump intervening so positively in Russia’s war with Ukraine by appearing to side with the aggressor. These are just the things that everyone is looking for in a Nobel peace prize. The US president is also put out that no one has noticed he has personally ended eight global conflicts: though it would be helpful if he could let us know which ones they are as the rest of us are in the dark. Are they ones he has personally started – Trump appears disappointed that Argentina hasn’t invaded the Falklands again – or ones that only he knows about. During a press conference at Chequers in 2025, he claimed to have brought a lasting peace between Albania and Azerbaijan. Maybe there’s other wars ongoing we just don’t know about. Perhaps Australia and New Zealand have been bombing each other for years with neither side noticing. And perhaps the border between France and Italy has been a no-go zone ever since the fight between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final. But there is some good news. Trump looks a cert to retain Gianni Infantino’s Fifa peace prize – if only because it seems likely to be scrapped, making him the only winner.