TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday informed President Trump that she nominated him for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize — joining a growing list of world leaders.
A White House official told The Post that Takaichi privately “told the president she nominated him and presented him with the papers” in a surprise move certain to please the commander in chief.
Takaichi unveiled her nomination after the leaders signed documents declaring a “Golden Age” of the US-Japan alliance, including affirming a July trade deal lowering tariffs on Japanese goods to 15% and pledging cooperation on rare-earth and critical minerals in the face of Chinese export restrictions.
The contents of Takaichi’s nomination letter were not immediately clear, but she publicly praised him for the cease-fire deal he brokered this month between Israel and Hamas.
“In such a short period of time, the world started to enjoy more peace on the ground. And in this context, I highly value your unwavering commitment towards peace and stability,” she told Trump in public remarks during their initial meeting.
Takaichi, a conservative protégé of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also pledged to donate 250 flowering cherry trees and July 4th fireworks to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States next year.
Trump, in turn, gushed about Takaichi, who last week became the country’s first female prime minister, and recounted how assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held her in high regard.
An already sizable list of world leaders has called for Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Sunday that he is also nominating Trump for the prize in gratitude for his mediation to end a five-day border war with Thailand in July.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking alongside Trump at a peace summit in Egypt on Oct. 13, said he is nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his role ending two years of fighting in Gaza and halting fighting between his nation and India in May.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at an August event at the White House that they would write a joint letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee in recognition of Trump’s role in ending their countries’ decades-long conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in July for helping force an end to his country’s war on Iran by dropping powerful US bombs on Iranian nuclear sites.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe also endorsed Trump for the prize for presiding over the end of his country’s conflict with the Democratic Republic of Congo — an idea endorsed in July by a group of African leaders visiting the White House, including Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema and Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
Trump on Monday likened brokering peace agreements to a hobby he enjoys.
“I shouldn’t say it’s a hobby, because it’s so much more serious than a hobby, but it’s something that I’m good at, and it’s something I love to do,” said Trump, who added that he’s now interested in resolving clashes between Pakistan and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, in addition to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump routinely boasts of helping resolve eight conflicts so far this year — a list that includes smoothing over either fighting or mounting tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Cambodia and Thailand, Egypt and Ethiopia, India and Pakistan, Israel and Hamas, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Serbia and Kosovo.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a five-member committee nominated by the Norwegian parliament. It is awarded each October, but technically honors work done in the prior calendar year. This year the prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who dedicated her win to Trump.
