Trump's Push for a Nobel Comes to a Head on Friday

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, and the big question is whether it will go to President Trump. The president and the White House have made no secret of his desire to win it, with repeated references to his role in ending conflicts around the world. The new Israel-Hamas peace deal, however, likely won't be a factor because of the timing. Coverage:

• Mideast: "Nobel Prize to Trump!" supporters cheered in Tel Aviv after the peace deal was announced, reports the New York Post. Israeli farmers even spelled out "Nobel 4 Trump" in a field, notes Mediaite. In Gaza, Palestinians also chanted Trump's name in praise.
• Too late: The Norwegian prize committee held its final meeting on Monday, meaning the decision was made before the Israeli-Hamas deal was announced, reports the Times of Israel. Typically, the panel makes its decision several days or weeks in advance, then meets a final time before the announcement.

• Unlikely: In an essay for Time, the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (not affiliated with the Nobel) writes that Trump is a long shot this year. Nina Graeger cites Trump's decision to pull the US out of multiple international pacts and to cut foreign aid, seeing it as at odds with the Nobel ideal of global cooperation. Although Trump "has made notable efforts in several areas, the overall record at this stage does not fully align with the standards outlined by Alfred Nobel," she writes. "Should his initiatives—such as efforts to end the war in Gaza—achieve lasting success, the situation could look quite different this time next year."
• Worthy: One of those who nominated Trump is American-Israeli academic Anat Alon-Beck, who lays out his case in a Fox News essay. "His ability to broker peace, hold adversaries accountable, and foster alliances has positioned him as one of the most consequential leaders of our time," the essay reads. "His leadership is so consequential that even Iran, long the chief sponsor of terror and resistance to peace, was forced to recalibrate its rhetoric and behavior in the face of the new regional reality his policies created."
• Bettors: On the online betting site Polymarket, Trump had a 5.7% chance of winning on Thursday. In first place are "Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms," which have been helping the injured in the war-torn country, at 35%. Also ahead of Trump are Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, at 10%; and Doctors Without Borders at 6%.