Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize Push: Crime, Power, and Obama

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Speaker Mike Johnson hails Trump’s policing experiment in D.C. as Nobel-worthy, reviving debates over crime, federalism, and whether Trump seeks the prize once last won by Barack Obama.

By TRH Global Affairs Desk

NEW DELHI, August 27, 2025 — US President Donald Trump’s pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize is no longer a fringe talking point. With House Speaker Mike Johnson openly backing his case, the Nobel has become part of the Trumpian narrative: a blend of bold domestic action, media spectacle, and the promise of global validation.

Johnson’s reasoning may seem provincial: an 11-day stretch without reported homicides in Washington, D.C., following Trump’s federal takeover of the city’s police force. “There are MANY reasons why President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize,” Johnson declared online, “but 11 straight days with ZERO murders in Washington, D.C. might top the list.” The White House amplified the streak, citing safer streets as evidence of Trump’s leadership.

The claim is not without caveats. D.C. has seen longer murder-free spells this year, and the police department warns that data is preliminary. Yet Johnson’s framing underscores a larger Trump strategy: presenting himself not just as America’s enforcer but as a global peacemaker, worthy of the Nobel last awarded to Barack Obama in 2009.

That comparison is no accident. Obama’s Nobel, awarded less for concrete achievements than for symbolic hope, has long gnawed at Trump. In his first term, he publicly lamented the committee’s decision. Now, with his return to the White House, he is determined to fuse domestic “law and order” victories with a broader pitch of “restoring peace” — whether on America’s streets or through geopolitical deals.

Trump’s controversial “Public Security Restoration Order,” which placed federal policing above local command in D.C., Chicago, and Portland, has become the test case. Supporters hail it as a triumph of decisive governance; critics denounce it as authoritarian overreach, warning of militarized policing and democratic erosion. That very polarity, however, is part of Trump’s playbook: forcing debate, claiming credit, and daring institutions — including the Nobel committee — to deny him recognition.

Whether an 11-day dip in murders qualifies as Nobel-worthy peace is beside the point. What matters is that Trump has turned the conversation into a spectacle. In doing so, he elevates a domestic policing experiment into a global talking point, wrapping his brand around an award still tied, in the American imagination, to his predecessor.

The last U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize was Obama. Trump, ever conscious of legacies and rivalries, is making sure the world knows he intends to be the next.

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