French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump should use America’s leverage over Israel to halt the war in Gaza if he wants to be considered seriously for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“There is one person who can do something about it, and that is the U.S. president,” Macron told France’s BFM TV in New York, where world leaders are gathered for the United Nations General Assembly. “The reason he can do more than us is because we do not supply weapons that allow the war in Gaza to be waged. The United States of America does.”
Macron’s remarks followed Trump’s combative address at the UN earlier in the day, in which the American president rejected recent moves by allies such as France, the United Kingdom, and Canada to recognize a Palestinian state, calling such efforts a “reward for Hamas.” Trump insisted that “the war in Gaza must stop immediately” and urged the release of all hostages before any political settlement.
Macron welcomed Trump’s stated desire for peace but argued that words would not be enough. “I see an American president who is involved, who reiterated this morning from the podium: ‘I want peace, I have resolved seven conflicts, I want the Nobel Peace Prize.’ The Nobel Peace Prize is only possible if you stop this conflict,” Macron said.
Trump has previously claimed he deserves the prestigious Norwegian award for brokering agreements in the Middle East and beyond. Countries including Cambodia, Israel, and Pakistan have nominated him in past years.
The White House pushed back sharply on Macron’s remarks. “President Trump has done more for peace than everyone present at the United Nations combined,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. “Only this president could have accomplished so much for global stability because he has effectively Made America Strong Again.”
The exchange highlighted the mounting pressure on Washington from allies who argue that only the U.S., as Israel’s chief military backer, can bring the fighting in Gaza to an end.
