Donald Trump and the Nobel Prize

By A. Khakee, Professor Emeritus (Umeå University), Stockholm, Sweden

Ever since Donald Trump became the US President, his racist agenda has had one goal namely, to undo all that Barack Obama had succeeded in achieving. In one respect, however he has been unsuccessful namely to get the Nobel Peace Prize that Barack Obama was awarded.

donald trump and kim jong unHe saw his first opportunity to get the Nobel Prize in his dealings with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un who was arming his country with nuclear weapons including the most powerful hydrogen bomb. Initially Donald Trump threatened to destroy North Korea totally and abused Kim calling him a “madman” and a “rocket man.” Kim in turn called Trump “mentally deranged dotard.”

Following the exchange of these ‘niceties,’ the two have met three times between 2018 and 2019 in Singapore, Hanoi and the Korean demilitarized zone. At the end pf the Singapore meeting, Mr. Trump loudly proclaimed that he should be awarded the Noble Peace Prize for his diplomacy with North Korea. “If Obama got the Prize, why shouldn’t I get one” has been his parole according to one of his aides. However, the Singapore meeting did not produce any substantial results. Rocket man Kim did not trust that dotard Trump would offer him the security that the nuclear bombs do. Mr. Trump was told by his nearest advisers to forget the Nobel Prize.

However, the two men have become buddies. The main reason for this bromance is that Trump hopes to build a Trump Tower in the North Korean Capital Pyongyang and seems to have promised Kim relaxation in economic sanctions once he gets re-elected. If not a Noble Prize, at least a Trump Tower!

Trump’s obsession with the thought that Obama got a Nobel Prize has not decreased. He saw his second chance in getting a Nobel Prize during the corona crisis by coming with a bright idea to cure coronavirus infection. Afterall the virus has been destabilizing a whole world. Trump’s brilliant proposal is a daily intake of antimalaria drug hydroxychloroquine. He says he takes the drug in order to get immunity against coronavirus infection. Trump even pressured the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the antimalarial drug to treat coronavirus. Some of his ardent supporters voiced the opinion that Trump should get a Nobel Prize in medicine for his “discovery” of hydroxychloroquine as corona medicine! In fact, some of these nitwits contacted the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm only to be informed that the Prize is awarded for discovery of major importance in life science or medicine, adding that available scientific evidence based on large trials of the drug shows that the drug has no effect on the virus. May be Trump should try to get the Nobel Prize in Economics for his books on how to get rich and think big!

Amid all these activities to promote the case of hydroxychloroquine and while coronavirus was taking its toll in the US, Trump and the First Lady Melania Trump arranged a real show at the White House to unveil the Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. This congested show acted as a nexus for the spread of virus. Several of the attendees including Donald and Melania Trump contracted coronavirus. Despite the fact that Trump was tested positive, he continued to meet people at political meetings. At the Republican Party Convention Melania Trump said “Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic.” Shouldn’t she have said instead that “Donald will not rest until he has succeeded in spreading the coronavirus to all Americans”?

Had Trump’s zeal to promote anti-malarial drug diminished? Not really. Trump came down with high fever and low oxygen saturation level on Friday evening following the Amy Barrett show. He was given supplementary oxygen at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The same treatment was repeated on Saturday. Disregarding precautions to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the President took a car ride already on Sunday in order to salute his supporters, including many Patriot Riders of America, who had gathered outside the hospital. On Monday the President returned to the White House where he posed mask-less for a photo downplaying the seriousness of Corona virus that has killed over 210 000 Americans.

It would not surprise anyone if Trump soon claims that he managed to recover quickly from coronavirus infection because he regularly took the antimalarial drug. He is haunted by the fact Barack Obama got a Nobel Prize but he has not. However, Trump can console himself by the fact that he can add one more title to his merits “The Super Coronavirus Spreader-in chief.”

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