As the news emerged that Pakistan has nominated former U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, shockwaves rippled through the Muslim world. Not from the act itself—it has, unfortunately, become routine for governments to bow before imperial powers—but from the sheer audacity of calling a man responsible for fueling mass death a symbol of peace.

 

Trump’s track record is not one of peacemaking. It is a record soaked in war, dispossession, and human misery.

 

In Palestine, Trump has been one of the most openly pro-Zionist presidents in American history. During his term, he not only recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital but also cut nearly *$300 million in aid to Palestinian refugees via UNRWA*, depriving schools, clinics, and basic services to millions. His administration also cut *$200 million* in bilateral aid to the West Bank and Gaza, strangling any support to the occupied people. These were not mere policy shifts—they were acts of war by economic strangulation.

 

More devastating still, Trump approved and expedited billions in military aid to Israel even as it committed repeated war crimes. In total, Trump authorized over *$14 billion* in military assistance to Israel during his four years in office. These funds were not symbolic—they were spent on bombs, surveillance tech, missiles, and armored vehicles used in besieging Gaza and terrorizing Palestinians.

 

Even after leaving office, Trump’s public statements have continued to embolden Israel’s assault. He praised Netanyahu for the October 2023 operation and has since urged Israel to “finish the job”—a thinly veiled green light for continued mass killings and forced displacement. In early 2025, he endorsed the idea of relocating Gaza’s population to Egypt and Jordan, a position slammed by international human rights organizations as ethnic cleansing.

 

In Iraq, Trump’s militarism was no less brutal. He ramped up drone strikes across the region and revoked transparency measures, leading to a spike in civilian deaths. His infamous order to assassinate Iranian General Qasem Soleimani on Iraqi soil brought Iraq to the brink of another war, without consulting Baghdad or the U.S. Congress. He repeatedly advocated to “take the oil” in Iraq and Syria—a blatant violation of international law, treating sovereign lands like colonial prizes.

 

The justification given by Pakistan’s government for the nomination—that Trump “helped ease tensions between India and Pakistan”—has been directly denied by Indian officials, who called the ceasefire a bilateral military arrangement. There is no public evidence that Trump played any significant role, and the move appears to be a diplomatic stunt aimed at currying favor with a potential returning U.S. president.

But the cost of such symbolic appeasement is devastating. It undermines Pakistan’s moral credibility and raises serious questions: Does the government stand with the oppressed—or with the sponsors of their oppression?

 

Across social media, Pakistanis have voiced outrage. Hashtags condemning the nomination trended for days. Scholars, youth, and activists alike called it a betrayal—not just of Palestine, Iraq, and Syria—but of Islam’s foundational call for justice. When a Muslim nation nominates the very figure whose hands are stained with Muslim blood, the damage is not only political—it is spiritual.

 

The nomination is more than tone-deaf. It is a stark reminder of how disconnected leadership has become from the pulse of the ummah. While people in Gaza are buried beneath rubble funded by U.S. military aid, and while Iraqis still suffer the aftershocks of war, the elevation of Trump to a “peace candidate” is not just absurd—it is dangerous.

 

The message this sends is clear: In this world, power still matters more than principle, and the victims of war are still just numbers in a political game.