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In the ultimate act of flattery, House Speaker Mike Johnson is launching an international campaign to get President Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize he’s long coveted—this time for brokering a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of Israeli hostages.
“This is a historic moment that deserves enormous credit and recognition on the world stage. It’s truly, truly historic,” Johnson said on Tuesday. “For generations, we have aspired to peace in the Middle East. Everyone around the world has. And now President Trump has delivered it.”
Johnson made the announcement during what’s become a daily ritual on Capitol Hill: a press conference in the middle of a government shutdown dragging into its 14th day. He opened the event by talking not about the stalemate in Washington but about Gaza.
“I’m proud to announce that together with my friend Speaker [Amir] Ohana of the Israeli Knesset, the equivalent of our Congress, we are going to embark upon a project together to rally Speakers and Presidents of parliaments around the world so that we will jointly nominate President Donald J. Trump for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize,” Johnson declared. “No one has ever deserved that prize more, and that is an objective fact.”
Ohana first laid the groundwork on Monday, saying Trump deserved the “highest honor” for his role in the Middle East. Johnson’s announcement formalized the partnership between the two speakers—part of a growing international campaign that already includes Pakistan’s prime minister, who made a similar pledge with Trump standing next to him.
Johnson’s praise came fresh off Trump’s trip to Israel and Egypt to celebrate the first phase of the peace deal. The president’s 20-point plan for Gaza is still fragile and early, but the return of hostages and the start of reconstruction talks are a major achievement.
Johnson, though, didn’t temper his enthusiasm.
He called it “an indisputable fact that no president has undertaken the work of saving lives and pursuing peace with such determination—and with such remarkable success—as President Trump.” He then went further, proclaiming that under Trump’s leadership, the world is witnessing the dawn of a “new Golden Age” for “the entire free world.”
It’s not the first time Johnson has tried to elevate Trump to Nobel status. Earlier this year, he claimed Trump deserved the award for a reported drop in crime in Washington, D.C., after the president’s takeover of the police department—a drop that started well before Trump showed up.
For years, Trump and his allies have insisted he deserves the prize, with the president at one point claiming “everyone” agrees. But polling suggests otherwise.
According to a September Ipsos poll for The Washington Post, 76% of Americans believe Trump does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, while just 22% think he does. Even Republicans are split down the middle, while independents and Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed.
And Trump didn’t get it this year. The Nobel Committee awarded Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado the prize shortly after Trump announced the first phase of the Gaza peace deal.
As Johnson works to boost Trump’s international prestige, he has little to show on the home front. The government shutdown grinds on. On Tuesday, the Senate will hold its eighth vote on the GOP’s short-term spending bill, which Democrats have already rejected seven times. The House, meanwhile, hasn’t voted on anything since Sept. 19, and many members remain in their districts.
Pressed on why Democrats aren’t budging, Johnson grew testy.
“I don’t have anything to negotiate,” he snapped.
So, instead of reopening the government, he’s launching a global campaign to get Trump an award—a convenient distraction.
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Alex Samuels
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