U.S. President Donald Trump‘s Friday press conference may have been dedicated to announcing a national emergency, but he also used the occasion to claim that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in engaging with North Korea:
“Prime Minister Abe of Japan gave me the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize. He said, ‘I have nominated you…’ or ‘Respectfully, on behalf of Japan, I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize.’ I said, ‘Thank you.’ Many other people feel that way too. I’ll probably never get it, but that’s okay.”
Trump wasn’t wrong about the nomination, Japanese newspaper Asahi reports, but he left out a key detail — Abe nominated Trump after the White House nudged him to.
The U.S. government “informally” asked Abe to nominate Trump for the accolade after his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June, Asahi reported, citing Japanese government sources.
A spokesman for Japan’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters that Tokyo was aware of Trump’s remarks regarding his Nobel Prize nomination, but “would refrain from commenting on the interaction between the two leaders.”
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Trump believed that his historic meeting with Kim was potentially a ticket for a Nobel Peace Prize that would become an essential part of his legacy, his advisors and White House officials told the Associated Press.
Even before the summit took place, a group of 18 House Republicans sent a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee urging Trump’s nomination.
“Since taking office, President Trump has worked tirelessly to apply maximum pressure on North Korea to end its illicit weapons program and bring peace to the region,” the letter read. It concluded: “We can think of no one more deserving of the Committee’s recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world.”
Friendly foreign figures such as South Korean President Moon Jae-In and former U.K. foreign secretary Boris Johnson have also mooted Trump as a contender for the prestigious accolade.
WATCH: Crowd chants ‘Nobel! Nobel!’ as President Trump talks about North Korea (Apr. 28, 2018)
Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama controversially won the prize in 2009 in a decision that Trump derided.
“They gave it to Obama. He didn’t even know what he got it for,” Trump said in his Friday press conference. “He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize, he said, ‘Oh what did I get it for?'”
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The list of people who can submit nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize includes heads of state, ministers and previous winners of the award.
However, the Nobel Committee clarifies: “A nomination for yourself will not be taken into consideration.”
Last year’s award was given to Congolese doctor and pastor Denis Mukwege and Iraqi Yazidi activist Nadia Murad “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”
WATCH: New calls for Trump to win Nobel Peace Prize (Apr. 30, 2018)