Donald Trump is stretching the limits of domestic abhorrence, even as he receives accolades for a much hoped for, yet previously elusive, cease fire between Israel and Hamas. It is still too early to pronounce his achievement as ever-lasting, for there have been ceasefires in the past that disintegrated from the enmity of the aggrieved and religiously zealous, on both sides of the conflict. But if all the hostages, alive and dead, are returned, and Palestinians are successful in shaking off the repressive rule of Hamas, he is to be commended for exercising the power of the United States in a positive manner.
Trump must be salivating at the prospect of his being a frontrunner for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Four previous U.S. presidents received the award: Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War; Woodrow Wilson in 1920 for working to end World War I and creating the League of Nations (which the Senate refused to enter); Jimmy Carter in 2002 for his work toward “peaceful solutions to international conflicts (including peace between Israel and Egypt), advancing democracy and human rights, and promoting economic and social development;” and Barack Obama, in 2009 for working to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation. In addition, former vice president Al Gore in 2007 received the Nobel Peace Prize for expanding knowledge about climate change.
For his part, Trump has been a less than enthusiastic cheerleader for the work of the United Nations, the successor international forum for the League of Nations. And he has been vocal in rejecting scientific truth about climate change.
Wilson has enjoyed historic credits for his espousal of the League of Nations and his advocacy of a 14 point peace program. After cutting excessive tariffs, he initiated the income tax system and the Federal Reserve System. He supported creation of the Federal Trade Commission and passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act, among other progressive actions by his administration.
But as a son of the South, raised in Virginia by parents who were supporters of slavery and the Confederacy, Wilson held segregationist principles. As president of Princeton University, he discouraged admitting black students. When elected president of the United States he drastically cut back appointments of blacks to administration positions, resulting in dramatic reduction in the growth of the black middle class in Washington. He allowed Jim Crow laws to flourish within the federal bureaucracy. He countenanced and further enabled the segregation of the armed forces.
Like Wilson, Trump has been eviscerating black representation in civil service, military and administration jobs. Trump’s world view for peace—his repetitive listing of wars he has ended, some real, some imagined—does not manifest itself in the image he projects domestically. He spars with Democratic mayors, many of whom are Afro-Americans in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.
He has removed black leaders from military commands, from educational institutions and from government boards and commissions (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/us/politics/black-leaders-trump.html?smid=url-share).
If he were only able to control the demeans of revenge within his psyche and within his zombie-like followers, Trump would ease much of the angst half of the country feels toward him. Barring his execution of a coup toppling our democracy (feared by many of his detractors), Trump and the country would be better served if he sought compromise and comity with Democrats. Keep in mind, we have three more years of his legitimate gold-plated residency in the White House.
Two years ago Hamas turned one of the most joyous days of the Jewish calendar, Simchat Torah, the joy of Torah, into a day of unspeakable tragedy. It is fitting that the hostages, at least the living ones, will be brought home two days before this year’s Simchat Torah. Tears of joy will replace tears of sadness. But celebration will be tinged with memories of relatives and friends lost forever and lamentations for the thousands of innocents killed in a war started and fueled by extremism.
***No A.I. was used in the writing and editing of this post. The only intelligence employed was my own.***
