Trump Says Japan's Abe Nominated Him for Nobel Peace Prize

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told U.S. President Donald Trump he had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with North Korea, according to remarks from Trump on Friday.

In a speech on border security in the Rose Garden on Friday, Trump said Abe had shown him a copy of a five-page letter he sent to “the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize.” The president was responding to a question on progress made since last year’s historic summit with North Korea.

“He said, ‘I have nominated you...’ or ‘Respectfully, on behalf of Japan, I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize,’” Trump said, according to a White House transcript.

The U.S. president didn’t elaborate on when Abe sent the letter or showed him the copy. He said Abe sent the nomination because Japan now feels “good” and “safe” after North Korean ballistic missile launches ceased. The Japanese Defense Ministry’s annual white paper released in August described North Korea as still posing a “grave and imminent” threat to the country.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official who declined to be named in line with ministry policy said it is aware of Trump’s remarks, but declined further comment.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are set to hold a second summit on February 27-28 in Hanoi.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sophie Jackman in Tokyo at sjackman5@bloomberg.net;Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Junko Hayashi at juhayashi@bloomberg.net, Cormac Mullen, Linus Chua

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