Trump complains he would get Nobel Peace Prize ‘if they gave it out fairly’

Donald Trump claims he’s worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, but says he may never get it as the selection process is unfair.

The US president was speaking to reporters ahead of a bilateral meeting with Pakistan’s prime minister at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

In a discussion around the latest on the disputed region of Kashmir, Mr Trump described himself as an “extremely good arbitrator” who was worthy of the prize for “a lot of things”.

Tensions in Kashmir have been on the rise since India stripped the territory of its autonomous status and sent additional troops to the Muslim-majority area.

At the press conference in New York a journalist from Pakistan told Mr Trump if he was able to secure peace in the disputed region then he would “very likely and definitely” be worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr Trump replied: “I would get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they give it out fairly, which they don’t.”

Established in 1895, the prize is awarded to the person who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

On Monday the US president claimed because the selection process was unfair he would lose out on being given the prestigious prize.

He made reference to how former president Barack Obama was a recipient of the award in 2009.

“They gave one to Obama immediately after his ascent to the presidency, and he had no idea why he got it,” Trump told reporters.

“You know what, that was the only thing I agreed with him on.”

In 2009 the Norwegian Nobel Committee said Mr Obama was given the prize for his work encouraging nuclear nonproliferation and his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy.

Like all other Nobel prize recipients, Mr Obama did not know he was up for the prize and his nomination for it came from someone else.

Losing out on the prize appears to be a sore point for the current US president who has spoken out about his self-perceived worthiness before.

Last May, when questioned on whether he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, Mr Trump said; “everyone thinks so” but “I would never say it”.

And in February he said that while Mr Obama got his shortly after taking office in the White House, “with me, I will probably never get it”.

Mr Trump has previously cited his efforts towards encouraging the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, planned work towards a peace deal in Israel and Palestine and his work in Afghanistan as reasons for his Nobel worthiness.

However, Mr Trump’s last meeting with the North Korean leader failed to secure any progress towards denuclearisation of the peninsula.

And despite his boasting that peace between Israel and Palestine would be the “deal of the century”, his administration has not produced any clear plan towards achieving this.

And earlier this month he scrapped talks with the Taliban just as a deal to bring an end to the war in Afghanistan looked set to be made.