ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump, who has aggressively campaigned for a Nobel Prize, hailed his peace efforts and joked about not getting the prize at a dinner at the White House on Wednesday, saying Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif got “emotional” while crediting him for saving millions of lives.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week. Over the past two years, she has reenergized a politically disengaged population after more than a decade of economic and social collapse.
Speaking at the White House dinner, Trump said Pakistan PM Sharif recently met him and emotionally credited him in front of a group of people for stopping multiple wars and thus saving lives of millions of people that could have been lost to the conflicts.
“In fact, the prime minister of Pakistan came and told me, and he was emotional about it. And in front of a group of people, he said, ‘This man saved 3 million, 5 million, maybe an untold number of lives’,” the US president said.
“And it was just recently that this happened, and we did numerous of them like that. And part of the reason we did it was trade.”
Sharif this week hailed President Trump for his “exemplary” leadership as world leaders signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Today is a one of the greatest days in contemporary history, because peace has been achieved after untiring efforts led by President Trump who is genuinely a man of peace, who has relentlessly and untiringly worked throughout these months, day in and day out, to make this world a place to live with peace and prosperity,” he said, standing beside Trump in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Sharif has gained favor with Trump since publicly endorsing him for a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering a ceasefire in a four-day Pakistan-India military standoff in May.
The White House criticized the Nobel Committee’s decision to grant the peace prize to the Venezuelan opposition leader instead of Trump, who aggressively lobbied for the award and touted his role in brokering international ceasefire deals.
Trump has repeatedly said that he has ended eight wars since taking office and that he deserves the peace prize.
“I stopped eight wars in eight months. Did I get a Nobel Prize? No,” he jokingly remarked at the White House dinner on Wednesday.
“I suspect that next year will be better, but I don’t know.”
— With input from Reuters
