Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that it’s “premature” to talk about President Trump receiving a Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic efforts with North Korea.
“Can you imagine the chagrin the Nobel Peace Prize people would have if they give the Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump?” McConnell asked during an interview on Louisville’s 840 WHAS radio with host Leland Conway.
McConnell said that face-to-face negotiations between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “would be a major accomplishment,” adding that he remains hopeful that a summit will occur.
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“I think it’s premature to get to that point, but it is good that the meeting appears to go forward,” he said.
Trump previously joked that “everyone thinks” he deserves the prize, an idea suggested by South Korean President Moon Jae-in when North Korea first opened itself to talks with its neighbor and the U.S. on denuclearization.
U.S. officials are currently in North Korea working to resurrect a summit with Kim. Trump last week canceled a planned meeting on June 12 in Singapore in response to “tremendous anger and open hostility” from Pyongyang toward the U.S. push for denuclearization.
McConnell said on Tuesday that Trump is “correctly skeptical” but still open to discussions.
“I think we need to greet this with at least some skepticism, and we need to not make a bad deal,” McConnell added. “And I don’t believe the president will make a bad deal.”