Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made headlines during a recent podcast appearance when she said she would nominate former President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize—if he manages to end the war in Ukraine without forcing the country to cede territory to Russia. Trump has since responded, and his reaction is grabbing just as much attention.
Clinton made the unexpected comment on the Raging Moderates podcast, hosted by Jessica Tarlov, which aired Friday.
“Honestly, if he could bring about the end to this terrible war, if he could end it without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor, could really stand up to Putin—something we haven’t seen, but maybe this is the opportunity—if President Trump were the architect of that, I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize,” Clinton said. “Because my goal here is to not allow capitulation to Putin.”
Trump was asked about Clinton’s statement during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier aboard Air Force One, as he traveled to a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A clip of the interview was released, with the full conversation scheduled to air later on Baier’s show.
“Did you see that Hillary Clinton yesterday said that if you got this deal done and didn’t capitulate to Putin, that she would nominate you for the Nobel Peace Prize?” Baier asked.
“That was very nice. I may have to start liking her again,” Trump responded with a chuckle. “So she’s having a change of heart there, that on Jessica Tarlov’s podcast.”
Baier also shared insights from his broader conversation with Trump, noting that the former president discussed his interactions with Putin. “He’s had phone calls with [Putin] where he sounded optimistic, only to have another missile or drone strike follow shortly after,” Baier said. “I asked him about Putin’s KGB background and the fact that he’s met with five U.S. presidents dozens of times.”
According to Baier, Trump replied, “It’s going to be trust but verify. I’m going to know, and we’re going to get to the next step.”
Trump has long expressed interest in receiving a Nobel Peace Prize and has prioritized ending global conflicts since returning to the Oval Office.