National security adviser says Trump ‘should be a front-runner for the Nobel Peace Prize’

White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Thursday called for President Trump to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his role in a diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

O’Brien made the case for his boss to get the prestigious honor, which the president himself has previously suggested he deserves, during a White House press briefing.

“It’s really remarkable I think when you step back and take a look at what this president has done on the peace front,” O’Brien said. “And it wouldn’t surprise me — it’ll take some time in this environment — but it wouldn’t surprise me if the president is eventually nominated for a Nobel Prize for this. Today’s work is an example of why he would be rightly considered and should be a front-runner for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

O’Brien showered praise on Trump for his role in brokering the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel. He noted that one of Trump’s books was titled “The Art of the Deal” but that he will be remembered “for being a great peacemaker.”

Robert C. O’Brien, National Security Advisor: “[President Trump] should be a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace Prize.” pic.twitter.com/X3nfzntGKq

— The Hill (@thehill) August 13, 2020

The national security adviser stumping for Trump to get Nobel consideration is certain to please the president, who last September said during the United Nations General Assembly that he would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “if they gave it out fairly.”

He has previously suggested his negotiations with North Korea, which have yet to yield any formal agreement on denuclearization, would warrant recognition. Pakistani reporters told Trump at the U.N. last year that he would be worthy of the honor if he mediated the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India.

“I think I’m gonna get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t,” Trump said at the time.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 at the request of the U.S. government.

Administration officials hailed Thursday’s announcement as historic. Formalized relations between the UAE and Israel bring to the forefront a quiet diplomacy that was building for years between the two countries, collaborating on security and on what is viewed by both countries as an existential threat posed by Iran.

The agreement will halt efforts by Israel to annex territory in the West Bank that was outlined in Trump’s plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, according to the White House.

Trump on Thursday said he expects other Arab nations to follow the moves by the UAE.