Nobel or not, President Donald J. Trump has a legacy on his mind.
The announcement that he brokered a deal that could end the brutal two-year war between Israel and Hamas "will bring us close to the end of this 3,000 YEAR CATASTROPHE," he wrote on Truth Social − the sort of achievement that presidents seek and history remembers.
And his triumphant trip to Egypt and Israel, likely to take place over the weekend, would share attention with the announcement in Oslo Oct. 10 of the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, an award he has publicly sought.
The 45th and 47th president has already announced the site of his presidential library − beating No. 46 Joe Biden on that − and begun raising millions of dollars for it. Even before the announcement that Hamas would release its remaining Israel hostages, the next step in a long peace process, he was bragging that he had settled seven wars, although some of those combatants dispute his account.
At 79 years old, Trump even occasionally muses about hopes for the ultimate post-presidential achievement − that is, to get into heaven. (Those ruminations have prompted the White House to deny any health concerns.)
