Republicans sign letter saying Trump should win Nobel Peace Prize
Eighteen Republicans have signed onto a letter to "respectfully nominate President Donald J. Trump to receive the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work to end ... the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula, and bring peace to the region."
The GOP members sent the letter to Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on Wednesday. The White House has yet to announce a date or location for a North Korea-U.S. summit, which Mr. Trump has said he will "leave" if it isn't successful. But North and South Korea have signed an agreement aiming for denuclearization, and officially ending the war, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in has given much of the credit to Mr. Trump. Moon, too, suggested that Mr. Trump deserves the Nobel.
The letter's signatories include: Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina; Luke Messer of Indiana; Ralph Norman of South Carolina; Michael Burgess of Texas; Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee; Kevin Cramer of North Dakota; Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen of the American Samoa; Matt Gaetz of Florida; Doug La Malfa of California; David McKinley of West Virginia; Brian Babin of Texas; Diane Black of Tennessee; Steve King of Iowa; Pete Olson of Texas; Evan Jenkins of West Virginia; and Drew Ferguson of Georgia.
"Since taking office, President Trump has worked tirelessly to apply maximum pressure on North Korea to end its illicit weapons programs and bring peace to the region," the letter says. "His administration successfully united the international community, including China, to impose one of the most successful international sanctions regimes in history. The sanctions have decimated the North Korean economy and have been largely credited for bringing North Korea to the negotiating table."
Former President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, a move that was criticized by some, given how early it was in his presidency. The Nobel secretary at the time, Geir Lundestad, told the Associated Press in 2015 the award did not achieve its intended goal of strengthening Obama.
— CBS News' Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this report.