Agence France-Presse

GOP lawmakers nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize over North Korea

Updated 4:45 p.m. to include a statement from Woodville Rep. Brian Babin about the nomination.

WASHINGTON -- Three Texas lawmakers have joined a move to nominate President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize over his efforts to denuclearize North Korea through economic sanctions and other pressure tactics.

Eighteen Republicans in the U.S. House signed the letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Three Texans signed: Michael Burgess of Pilot Point, Brian Babin of Woodville and Pete Olson of Sugar Land.  They urged “recognition of Trump's work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula, and bring peace to the region.


Chatter over a Nobel for Trump surged after the historic meeting between North and South Korean leaders. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the border to meet with President Moon Jae-In on Friday. The two leaders pledged a “complete denuclearization” of the peninsula.

The Peace Prize generally goes to people with a record of conciliation or mediation of conflict, rather than -- as the U.S. lawmakers stated in the Trump nomination letter -- “peace through strength” policies.

In a statement, Babin said Americans should be cautiously optimistic about developments in the Korean Peninsula, but he's encouraged to see that Trump's "strong actions" are paying off. 

"If he can lead these two countries towards peace, that is deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize," he said. 

Trump and Kim are expected to meet soon, although a time and place has not yet been decided. CNN reported Tuesday that there is a “strong possibility” that the summit between the two leaders will also be held at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.

A South Korean presidential aide told reporters Monday that Moon believes Trump deserves the peace prize. Trump called that “very generous.”

On Saturday night, he basked in the glow of “Nobel! Nobel!” chants at a Michigan rally.

“That’s very nice, thank you. That’s very nice. Nobel,” he said. “I just want to get the job done.”

The prize is sometimes a sign more of hope than achievement. The 2000 peace prize went to South Korea's president at the time, Kim Dae-jung, "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular." Tensions between the Koreas remained high through much of the next 18 years.

Four U.S. presidents have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. The most recent was Barack Obama in 2009 -- less than a year after he took office -- “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

The award caught Obama off guard. Critics mocked it as premature and a stamp of approval from a liberal-leaning organization, based largely on the fact that he wasn’t predecessor George W. Bush, who had led the United States into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee stopped taking nominations for the 2018 award on Feb. 1. There are 330 candidates for the 2018 prize, according to the Nobel Prize website.

Not just anyone can submit nominations, but current members of Congress and other national legislatures are eligible to do so under the Nobel rules for the Peace Prize.