Risk in Trump’s Ukraine War Exertions

I’m chagrined — but who could be surprised? — by indications that President Trump’s high-profile exertions regarding the war in Ukraine are a Nobel Peace Prize vanity project. The Dispatch even reports (based on a Norwegian press outlet) that the president cold-called Norway’s finance minister to discuss the award (on the pretext of talking tariffs). Ever since the late Yasser Arafat was honored with the “peace” prize — in between intifadas — it has puzzled me why anyone actually worth giving it to would want it. Alas, I suppose mainstream journos still crave the Pulitzer Prize nearly a century after it was presented to Walter Duranty for lionizing Stalin. And while I have no idea if Trump cares that a master terrorist won the Nobel in 1994, he obviously cares deeply that Barack Obama won it in 2009.

Sixteen years later, Obama’s prize is mainly a punch line thanks to the consensus (even among honest admirers of the former president) that he did nothing to earn it. In Trump’s case, like Obama’s, doing nothing would be infinitely better than seeking praise for his admirable intentions rather than serving America’s interests.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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I’m chagrined — but who could be surprised? — by indications that President Trump’s high-profile exertions regarding the war in Ukraine are a Nobel Peace Prize vanity project. The Dispatch even reports (based on a Norwegian press outlet) that the president cold-called Norway’s finance minister to discuss the award (on the pretext of talking tariffs). Ever since the late Yasser Arafat was honored with the “peace” prize — in between intifadas — it has puzzled me why anyone actually worth giving it to would want it. Alas, I suppose mainstream journos still crave the Pulitzer Prize nearly a century after it was presented to Walter Duranty for lionizing Stalin. And while I have no idea if Trump cares that a master terrorist won the Nobel in 1994, he obviously cares deeply that Barack Obama won it in 2009.

Sixteen years later, Obama’s prize is mainly a punch line thanks to the consensus (even among honest admirers of the former president) that he did nothing to earn it. In Trump’s case, like Obama’s, doing nothing would be infinitely better than seeking praise for his admirable intentions rather than serving America’s interests.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.