Norwegian MPs back growing calls for Trump Nobel Prize after North Korea summit

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Two Norwegian MPs are calling for President Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- the latest push for Trump to be given the prestigious prize

Lawmakers Christian Tybring-Gjedde and Per-Willy Amundsen, both of the conservative Norwegian Progress Party, wrote a nominating letter calling for Trump to be given the award by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to support the “historic” peace process.

“What’s happening now is historic,” Amundsen told state broadcaster NRK. “A process is underway to ensure world peace in the future. It's a fragile process, but we must of course do what we can to help this process bring good results. I think that we can do by sending a clear signal by giving Trump the peace prize.”

The nomination letter compares Trump’s actions to those of President Theodore Roosevelt, who they note was given the prize in 1906 for his efforts with Russia and Japan at the end of the Russian-Japanese War.

“Both President Roosevelt and President Trump show that government leaders who are not afraid to show that they are willing to use power can be tools for peace,” the letter says.

Last month, a group of 18 Republican lawmakers signed their names to a letter nominating Trump for the prize. That letter said that Trump has worked “tirelessly to apply maximum pressure to North Korea to end its illicit weapons programs and bring peace to the region.”

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“Although North Korea has evaded demands from the international community to cease its aggression for decades, President Trump’s peace through strength policies are working and bringing peace to the Korean peninsula,” the Republican letter said. “We can think of no one more deserving of the Committee’s recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world.”

Both the Norwegian and American letters of nomination are for the 2019 prize, as the 2018 award period ended in February.  According to the Nobel Prize's website, a nomination is considered valid if submitted by persons in certain categories -- including “members of national assemblies and national governments (cabinet members/ministers) of sovereign states as well as current heads of state." There are 330 candidates for the 2018 prize, which will be announced in October.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has also reportedly called for Trump to be given the prize.

In addition to Roosevelt, Presidents Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Woodrow Wilson have also been honored with the award. In 2007, former Vice President Al Gore was given the award alongside the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for their work on climate change.

While even Trump himself has expressed some reservations about whether the talks will ultimately be successful, the Norwegian MPs said that it is not without precedent to award a prize when a process is still underway.

"It would not be the first time you give the peace prize to someone involved in a process. It has happened before,” Amundsen said, according to NRK.