President Donald the New Trump, a simple and honest man who wears his heart on his sleeve—unlike others whose intentions remain unfathomable—has nonetheless become a subject of psychological study in America due to his unpredictable behaviour. He is currently engaged in a persistent campaign, touting an unusual list of achievements in an obsessive pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize. Will Trump’s relentless self-promotion, violating the Nobel ethos, tip the scales against him — or will his fifth nomination finally strike gold this October?

WASHINGTON, Aug 4: Donald the New Trump’s Nobel push has gained momentum. The elusive Peace Prize has almost become an obsession for him, might just be his white whale.

Reeling out evidence of his worthiness for the honour, on Sunday he doubled down on this claim via Truth Social, saying, “I settled a lot of wars, including India and Pakistan”.

There is no proof either way, but India has firmly rejected any suggestion of third-party intervention. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Parliament that no foreign leader influenced India’s decision to halt Operation Sindoor, which targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar added that there were no phone calls between Modi and Trump during the critical period.

On Saturday, Trump appeared on Newsmax, where he listed his achievements in global diplomacy. “We’ve settled a lot of very beautiful wars,” he said. “India and Pakistan, nuclear — I settled that up. I settled it up with trade. I said, ‘You guys are going to fight? Fine. But we’re not doing a trade deal.’ And they stopped”. He also cited the Congo-Rwanda conflict, claiming to have ended a 31-year bloodbath that killed seven million people. “I think I settled about a war a month,” Trump added, framing his peace efforts as both humanitarian and strategic.

For the man who envisions himself as a peacemaker, it has become a recurring theme in his speeches, interviews and social media posts. It has almost assumed the dimensions of a poll campaign. He wants to own it as a brand. American psychologists are baffled, baffled because their books do not list his aberrations.

A chronology of Trump’s Nobel aspirations

Trump’s Nobel ambitions date back to his first term, when he touted the Abraham Accords as a landmark peace achievement. In May this year, he began repeating claims of mediating the India-Pakistan ceasefire, often linking peace efforts to trade leverage.

Since then, he has mentioned his Nobel-worthiness nearly 30 times in speeches, interviews, and social media posts.

The White House’s endorsement marks a formal escalation of this campaign. It last week formally suggested that President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his role in brokering multiple global ceasefires.

His Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Trump had “ended six conflicts” in as many months since taking office, including the standoff between India and Pakistan.

Leavitt declared, “President Trump has brokered, on average, one peace deal or ceasefire per month during his six months in office. It’s well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize”. Among the conflicts listed were those between Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Serbia and Kosovo, and Egypt and Ethiopia.

Leavitt told reporters on July 31, it’s “well past time” Trump received the award. It’s “well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Since his January 20 return to power, the US President "has brokered, on an average, one peace deal or ceasefire per month", Leavitt said, citing as examples his mediations between India and Pakistan; Cambodia and Thailand; Egypt and Ethiopia; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Serbia and Kosovo; and others. She also mentioned Iran.

She made no mention of the conflict in Ukraine, which Trump pledged multiple times to end on "day one" of his term, or the war in Gaza, which rumbles on and for which the US supplies Israel with weapons, remarks CNN.

The most contentious claim involved the India-Pakistan military escalation in May, following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. Trump has repeatedly asserted that his administration mediated a “full and immediate” ceasefire between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Nobel Peace Prize and self-promotion

Nobel Peace Prize. You don't work for it. It is a byproduct of your exceptional deeds in the service of humanity. It is an honour for substantive, lasting contributions to peace. The ethos leans heavily on dignity and humility.

For example, Martin Luther King Jr, Malala Yousafzai or Barack Obama did not ask for it. Yet, Obama's Peace Prize in 2009 became controversial. But he said he was “surprised and deeply humbled... I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures."

Self-promotion as such is not officially prohibited by the statute, it’s not a formal disqualifier like self-nomination, but it becomes a liability and violates the basic core of the Peace Prize. It’s considered undignified in Nobel circles. The prize is not meant to be chased. It is not an election for you to campaign for nor is it a beauty contest.

Trump's press secretary's statement is a White House statement. That has gone on record as self-promotion. A press secretary is an official spokesperson and has no room for personal opinion. The statement as it came from the White House was indeed surprising and appeared grotesque for the discerning.

Self-promotion and self-nomination

Public campaigning doesn’t influence the Nobel Committee’s decision. The Committee listens only to quiet, qualified nominators like professors, lawmakers and laureates etc who hold the keys.

Unlike self-promotion, self-nomination for the Peace Prize is officially prohibited by the statutes of the Nobel Foundation. The rules are crystal clear: only certain individuals and institutions are eligible to submit nominations.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee will not review or accept any nomination that comes from an ineligible source, including the nominees themselves.

Trump has certainly emerged as the most overt and persistent in publicly campaigning for the Nobel Prize. Historically, most Nobel nominees have either been nominated quietly by others or have maintained a modest distance.

He has repeatedly stated that he deserves the prize, saying, “I deserve it, but they will never give it to me."

Basking in the flattering responses, Trump has welcomed endorsements from foreign leaders like Netanyahu, and African heads of state from Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal for his role in the Rwanda–Congo peace deal. Pakistan and Cambodia too are nominating. He assumes them as informal validations.

Self-promotion is a reputational liability in Nobel circles although it’s not a formal disqualifier. Any departure from the prescribed norms will be disastrous for the Nobel's ethos and its very foundation. The committee will never want to set a precedent that encourages future lobbying and worse.

Self-promotion is certainly going to tip the scales against Trump. There’s no known instance where overt self-promotion was overlooked and still led to a Nobel Peace Prize. Self-promotion, in a nutshell, is a transgression of the Nobel culture and process.

Nomination window closes on January 31

The Nobel Peace Prize nomination window for 2025 closes by January 31 every year. Nominations must be submitted before that date. Winner(s) are announced in early October. The award ceremony takes place on December 10. Nominators and nominees are not revealed. But nominees number is made public. In 2025, there are 338 nominees. The nominations are kept confidential for 50 years.

There is at least one nomination filed last year for Trump for consideration for this year's award. Nominations filed this year may be taken up next year.

Multiple nominations

Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize multiple times in the past.

US Congressmen Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) submitted nominations for Trump’s role in brokering ceasefires. Pakistan nominated Trump for the Prize, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Cambodia is about repeating the act.

Buddy Carter has nominated Trump for the President’s role in brokering the ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel. Carter said (24 June) he wrote a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee to “formally nominate” Trump for the coveted prize “in recognition of his extraordinary and historic role in brokering an end to the armed conflict between Israel and Iran.”

Darrell Issa in March said he nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize citing the President’s efforts in the Middle East.

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) said in January 2024 that she nominated Trump for his role in brokering the historic Abraham Accords during his first term. He did not get the 2024 Prize.

Trump’s 2024 nomination (for 2024) marked his fourth overall, following previous ones in 2018 (for 2019) , 2020 (for 2021) and 2021 (for 2022). The new nominations will be the sixth for 2026 Prize. Trump has at least one valid nomination for the 2025 Nobel. Submitted before January 31, 2025, that was by law professor Anat Alon-Beck, who cited his leadership in securing hostage releases from Gaza.

Some say he is running second in chance to the late Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.

• The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
• The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
• The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)

A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924) (Today's headlines )

Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.

PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.

Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people. (Today's headlines )

"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...

Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.

Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.

The committee headed by justice Kurian Joseph will study Centre-State relations and make proposals to ensure foolproof separation of powers.

"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.

Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.

ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!

What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America! (Today's headlines )

PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).

In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.

THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.

The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.

Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See: New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)

ANALYSIS: "The standard operating procedure for deportations by aircraft used by ICE that is effective from 2012 provides for the use of restraints," says the Government. That means, it is taken for granted the US will set the standard for deportations. For another, the Government is more interested in comparing with what happened in 2012 under a different Government to justify its own compliance! No surprise, others are trampling upon us. (How we conduct ourselves inside decides, inherently, how we are treated outside) Thirdly, the Government blamed the gangs doing the business of human trafficking for the illegal migration. For all the crimes taking place in the country, let us blame the criminals! Funny! We will never move an inch forward! The mindset defines what we are.

Meanwhile, a UN-returned Congress leader Shashi Tharoor sounded like a layman when he said, "If they are citizens of India we have an obligation to take them back." Who said 'No'?. He should know that is not the issue now. Who will identify an undocumented person, and how?

The function was held indoors from 12 pm (10:30 pm IST) at the rotunda of the US Capitol building because of unusually intense cold and snow. Delivering his inaugural address, Trump remarked, “The golden age of America begins right now," and just hours later signed a slew of executive orders to redeem the election pledges.