Q&A of the Day – The Nobel Peace Prize & President Trump’s Popularity in Israel
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
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Today’s entry: @brianmuddradio So right! @POTUS wins the Peace Prize or it means nothing. Question. What is @RealDonaldTrump’s approval in Israel?
Bottom Line: In my top three takeaways on May 19th, the theme was that day was Peace Through Strength Like the World has Never Seen. It was an accounting of the historic middle east trip President Trump made in securing trillions of dollars in U.S. investments from middle east nations and along the way being treated like royalty, literally. We saw scenes like none of us thought we’d ever see in counties like the UAE and Qatar. Countries that were among the important allies in pulling together the historic first phase of the 20-point peace accord I outlined in yesterday’s takeaways. It was groundwork that was laid during President Trump’s first term when he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, which other presidents spoke of, but didn’t do, while working on trade deals with Arab countries. But while the Israel-Hamas deal is history in the making, it’s but the latest brokered Trump peace deal.
Since January 20th, when Trump was once again sworn in as president of the United States, he’s brokered peace be between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Cambodia and Thailand, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia, Serbia and Kosovo, with the Abraham Accords and now between Israel and Hamas. What we’re seeing take place is historic peace being struck and at a historic pace. Of course, the one peace deal the president has sought but hasn’t yet had success with is between Russia and Ukraine – which, should the Israel-Hamas deal hold, he’ll likely refocus his attention on. All of this is to say that yes, President Trump has delivered more peace to the world than had been done since Reagan and the end of the Cold War, and from a point of practicality, since Truman in World War II.
As for whether President Trump will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? Now we know that it didn’t happen... Which didn’t come as a surprise. On Polymarket President Trump was priced with only a 5% chance of receiving the award as of yesterday afternoon. The leading bet getter was Sudan Emergency Response Rooms heading into the decision. The winner, Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader to Nicolas Maduro was less than 1%.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute registered a total of 338 candidates for the 2025 peace prize, of which 244 were individuals and 94 are organizations. As stated by the Nobel Committee: The Peace Prize has principally been awarded to honor efforts in four main areas: arms control and disarmament, peace negotiation, democracy and human rights, and work aimed at creating a better organized and more peaceful world. It’s clearly laughable that Donald Trump didn’t win. They’ll not divulge any of the related information other than the winner for fifty years. It’s quite clear that the Nobel committee isn’t to be taken seriously. With that said, in response to your second question, it’s clear that if it were awarded by Israeli citizens – he'd have won in a landslide.
President Trump’s approval rating in Israel (asked in terms of having confidence in him as a world leader) prior to the peace deal being announced, was 69% according to the Pew Research Center, with 83% of Israelis holding a favorable view of the United States. Among Jews specifically, President Trump’s approval rating was 73% - by far the highest rating of any world leader. In fact, it’s safe to say that President Trump is more popular in Israel than he is anywhere else around the world even within the United States (his highest approval rating stateside is 68% in Wyoming) ...with one exception.
Trivia time... Where in the world do you think President Trump has his highest approval rating in? You get all of the points in the entire next show of Who’s Line is it Anyway if you get this one right... Nigeria at 79%. Btw, while we’re at it, where in the world is Trump approved of the least? Here’s a hint. There’s a wall being built where Biden’s open border used to be. That’s right, it’s Mexico where it’s only 8%. It turns out they don’t care for a president who doesn’t let them take advantage of our country.