US President Donald Trump’s hopes of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize have suffered a major blow after a high-profile nomination was abruptly rescinded, triggering a wave of international attention and political fallout.
Trump was initially nominated by US Representative Buddy Carter, a Republican from Georgia, following his announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel — a development Trump hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough. In his nomination letter to the Nobel Committee, Carter praised Trump’s role as “extraordinary and historic,” claiming the president was instrumental in ending hostilities between the two long-standing adversaries and in preventing Iran — described as “the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism” — from acquiring nuclear weapons.
However, Trump’s Nobel ambitions were dealt a significant setback when Oleksandr Merezhko, a senior Ukrainian lawmaker and head of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, withdrew his separate nomination. Merezhko had put Trump forward for the prize in November, citing hopes that the then-president-elect could broker peace between Ukraine and Russia.
“I have lost any sort of faith and belief in Trump and his ability to secure a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv,” Merezhko told Newsweek. He accused Trump of failing to act on his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.
Merezhko also criticized Trump’s lack of concrete measures against Russia, particularly his failure to impose additional sanctions. “Trump is evading — he is dodging — the need to impose sanctions on Russia,” he said.
While Ukraine agreed to a US-proposed peace deal in March, Russia has yet to respond favorably. Trump’s tone has shifted from optimism to frustration, warning in May that if Russia continued to stall, there would be consequences. “If Putin is stalling, we’ll respond a little bit differently,” he said. Despite this rhetoric, no further action followed.
The Ukrainian lawmaker further condemned Trump’s muted reaction to recent Russian missile attacks on Kyiv, accusing him of choosing “the path of appeasement.”
Trump, meanwhile, has remained focused on developments in the Middle East. On his social media platform Truth Social, he urged both Iran and Israel to honor the ceasefire, posting in capital letters: “PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!”
Tensions in the region escalated again on Tuesday as Israel accused Iran of breaching the fragile truce — a charge Tehran denies. Trump claimed Israeli fighter jets had been ordered to stand down, insisting, “All Israeli planes are turning back home.”
New Nomination from Pakistan Amid Ongoing Controversy
Despite the backlash, Trump received renewed support from Pakistan. Officials in Islamabad announced that they would nominate Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, citing his “decisive diplomatic intervention” in de-escalating tensions between Pakistan and India.
The competing nominations reflect the deeply polarized global response to Trump’s foreign policy moves, underscoring the growing complexity surrounding his candidacy for one of the world's most prestigious peace honors.
