Conservative Republicans seeking posts suggest Nobel Peace Prize for Trump

Days after US President Donald Trump's name emerged for the Nobel Peace Prize, a group of Republicans from the US House of Representative has sought the prestigious prize for Trump for his efforts towards easing tensions with North Korea which till recently pursued reckless nuclear ambitions, Associated Press reported.

Luke Messer from Indiana on Wednesday, May 2, suggested the same in a letter sent to the Norwegian Nobel committee and it bore signatures of 17 Republicans. However, Trump would be eligible only for the 2019 award since the deadline for the 2018 award passed on February 1, the AP report added.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in also backed a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump recently for his role in achieving a denuclearised North Korea to which Trump called him "very generous".

Trump is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a few weeks over North Korea's denuclearisation and this widely awaited meeting will occur after Moon met Kim in a historic summit at border truce town of Punmunjeom on April 27. The date and venue for the proposed meeting between Trump and Kim are still being worked on.

The letter sent to the Nobel committee to consider Trump's name said Pyongyang has been ignoring the demand to halt its aggression but it was the US president's "peace through strength policies" that made it come to the negotiating table, the AP report said, adding that the letter also stressed that it was the Trump administration which united China and others in putting North Korea under strict sanctions.

"The sanctions have decimated the North Korean economy and have been largely credited for bringing North Korea to the negotiating table," the report cited the nomination letter as stating.

Messer is in the race for a position in the Senate from Indiana where support for Trump has become very crucial for the Republican voters, the AP report said. It said the lawmakers who signed the letter belong to the most conservative section in the House. The group also consists of other members who are in a race to become governor or senator in various states that are known to be Republican supporters, the report added.