How Ian Borg’s Trump nomination makes a mockery of justice

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ian Borg has nominated US President Donald Trump, who for the past months has abetted and sustained the genocide in Gaza, for the Nobel Peace Prize—thus making a complete mockery of this international institution.

Malta is now the first, and so far, only, EU government to nominate Donald Trump for a peace prize he clearly does not deserve.

While Borg claims he has nominated Trump for his role in helping to broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, this announcement coincided with a long-awaited agreement on the first phase of a ceasefire in Gaza. Although Borg does not directly reference Trump’s role in the Gaza war, it stands to reason that a Nobel Peace Prize cannot be awarded to a US president who has actively contributed to genocide without ever condemning it.

The chilling message from our foreign minister is that the genocide for which both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are responsible should be rewarded rather than prosecuted. Yet the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) clearly states that complicity in genocide is punishable under international law. Any state or individual who aids, assists, or otherwise facilitates genocide can be held accountable under this provision.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the United States has approved nearly $12 billion in major Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Israel, as reported by the U.S. State Department. This includes expedited arms deals totalling approximately $4 billion, authorised under emergency procedures to support Israel's military operations in Gaza. Between October 2023 and September 2025 under both Biden and Trump, the U.S. has provided Israel with over $21.7 billion in military aid, including both major arms sales and other forms of assistance, according to Newsweek. This support has been pivotal in enabling Israel to sustain its military campaign against Hamas.

Since October 2023, at least 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 20,000 children.

Approximately 20,000 Palestinians have died since President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. 

Trump had also authorised Netanyahu’s starvation policy by deploying an ineffective foundation of American contractors in Gaza and has used repression against pro Palestinian activists in the USA. Moreover, beyond Gaza, Trump’s contribution to peace included threats of annexing Greenland and Canada and failing miserably on his promise to bring peace to Ukraine in 24 hours.

Sure, one cannot but feel relief at an agreement which, at least for now, stops the carnage and offers the possibility for the release of Israeli hostages and thousands of Palestinian political prisoners, some of whom have rotted in jail for decades. 

Still, this does not erase the responsibility of those responsible for genocide and mass starvation. Neither does it absolve those who abetted it and who persist in ignoring the root cause of the problem: the occupation.

Instead of rubbing Trump’s ego, Ian Borg should now be actively working toward the prosecution of war criminals responsible for genocide and the effective end of the Israeli occupation. The real test now lies with those countries that recognised Palestine as an independent state. If they truly meant it, they should be calling for self-determination—not occupation in new guises—and for the prosecution of all those responsible for genocide, including those who abetted it. They should also call for the release of Palestinian leaders who can make peace possible.

Otherwise, what we will have is the peace of the victors over the vanquished, which may hold for a few weeks, possibly months, until the cycle begins again.

My fear is that they did not mean a single word, and we will find ourselves back where we were before 7 October 2023: genocide in slow motion.