As President Donald Trump sits down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss a possible end to the war in Ukraine, he has picked up an unexpected voice of support — one from across the political aisle and from a former rival.
In a recent appearance on the Raging Moderates podcast, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would back Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize if he could broker a peace deal that preserves Ukraine’s territorial integrity and rebuffs Moscow’s claims.
“If he could end it without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor… but instead could really stand up to Putin, to make it clear there must be a ceasefire,” Clinton said, “If President Trump were the architect of that, I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize.”
Her comments come as Trump sets his sights on the honor, one that was awarded to then-President Barack Obama in 2009. He believes that his role in mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May gives him all the good will he needs to take home the award. According to Norwegian media, he even phoned the prime minister of Norway last month to inquire about the nomination process.
So far, Trump has already secured nominations from Pakistan, Cambodia, Israel, several administration officials, and Republican lawmakers. He has leaned on those endorsements in campaign stops, framing them as proof of his diplomatic achievements.
The Friday summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson marks the first in-person meeting between Trump and Putin since Trump’s first term in office. The stakes are high: the war in Ukraine is entering its fourth year, with no lasting ceasefire in place and the frontlines still contested. European leaders, wary of any deal that might grant Russia a de facto victory, were told earlier this week by Trump that he would not negotiate territorial swaps during his talks with Putin.
Clinton’s remarks also carry personal history. She led the State Department during Putin’s return to the presidency in 2012, after a four-year break, and her tenure was marked by a rocky U.S.-Russia relationship. The fact that she’s open to nominating Trump for the Nobel Prize shows just how important it is that a peace deal would be for Ukraine.
For now, the path to that kind of agreement remains uncertain. But as Trump and Putin meet behind closed doors in Alaska, the possibility — however remote — of ending one of the world’s bloodiest conflicts has drawn both partisan skepticism and bipartisan hope.
