A group of 18 House Republicans has nominated President Donald Trump for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on North Korea.
"Although North Korea has evaded demands from the international community to cease its aggression for decades, President Trump's peace through strength policies are working and bringing peace to the Korean peninsula," write the lawmakers in their nomination letter. "We can think of no one more deserving of the Committee's recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world."
Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) is the leader of the effort, which he first proposed in March.
Trump has agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, possibly in late May or early June. Mike Pompeo, Trump's newly confirmed secretary of state, met with Kim in secret three weeks ago. At the time, Pompeo was the CIA director.
But Trump had also ratcheted up tensions with North Korea. White House officials contemplated striking the country, and he and Kim traded insults.
At a rally in Michigan last weekend, supporters chanted "No-bel, No-bel, No-bel" when Trump mentioned North Korea.
The letter comes just days before Messer faces a big primary. On Tuesday, Indiana voters will decide whether they want him to be their GOP nominee for U.S. Senate. Much of the race has been about the candidates trying to prove how much they're like Trump. Messer has pitched himself as a "conservative who supports the Trump/Pence agenda" and this Nobel Prize push gives him an additional talking point.
The winner of Tuesday's primary will face Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) in November.
President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, less than one year into his first term ― an honor that infuriated conservatives. The Norwegian Nobel Committee pointed to "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" and "attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons."