(The caricature of Donald Trump is by DonkeyHotey.)The overriding characteristic of Donald Trump's personality is his narcissism. That determines every aspect of his presidency in both domestic and foreign policy. If he thinks an action or a lie will make him look good, then that is what he will do -- regardless of whether it is good for the country or not.
A couple of days ago, he was again bragging that he had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He said the Japanese prime minister had nominated him for his meeting with Kim Jong-Un of North Korea (even though that meeting accomplished nothing other than to increase Kim Jong-Un's standing on the world stage).
But there's another part to that story that Trump won't tell. It now comes out that the Japanese prime minister only nominated Trump because the U.S. government (i.e., the Trump administration) asked him to do that. I don't know if the request came from Trump, or from someone in his administration trying to earn brownie points with him -- but either way it points to Trump's abnormal level of narcissism.
Here's how Reuters reported the story:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last autumn after receiving a request from the U.S. government to do so, the Asahi newspaper reported on Sunday. The report follows Trump’s claim on Friday that Abe had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for opening talks and easing tensions with North Korea. The Japanese leader had given him “the most beautiful copy” of a five-page nomination letter, Trump said at a White House news conference. The U.S. government had sounded Abe out over the Noble Peace Prize nomination after Trump’s summit in June last year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the first meeting between a North Korean leader and a sitting U.S. president, the Asahi said, citing an unnamed Japanese government source. A spokesman for Japan’s Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said the ministry was aware of Trump’s remarks, but “would refrain from commenting on the interaction between the two leaders.” The White House had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. The Nobel Foundation’s website says a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize may be submitted by any person who meets the nomination criteria, which includes current heads of states. Under the foundation’s rules, names and other information about unsuccessful nominations cannot be disclosed for 50 years.
