On Sunday we learned that someone in the U.S. government asked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to nominate Donald Trump for an actual Nobel Peace Prize—and that Abe delivered, allegedly afterward giving Trump a "beautiful copy" (Trump's words) of the resulting five-page boot-polishing.
This has caused some consternation in Japan, where Trump is widely seen as a dangerous, addled idiot, and Abe was questioned in parliament today about why he would do such a humiliating thing. Abe declined to explain: “In light of the Nobel committee’s policy of not disclosing recommenders and nominees for 50 years, I decline to comment.”
In those and later remarks, he didn't deny he had made the nomination. He just refused to explain it further.
Abe has, for better or worse, staked a claim to being one of Trump's worldwide besties. He has studiously avoided angering Trump, instead choosing the path of flattery. This is partly because Abe is himself of a nationalist persuasion, and therefore more tolerant of Trump's twitching, reflexive ideologies than more liberal world leaders are, but more because the United States is a critical ally in efforts to block Chinese expansionism and the North Korean nuclear threat. The nation cannot afford to antagonize the American government too much or for too long, even if our government is temporarily led by a collection of raving morons.
So while Japanese lawmakers are muttering that Abe humoring Trump with a Nobel nomination is “an embarrassment for Japan,” it's likely that Abe saw an opportunity for scoring cheap points with Captain Malignant Narcissist and seized on it gladly. Flattering Trump has been the most expedient way to convince him to change U.S. policies in whatever ways a given nation might desire: Give the man a new title or a new trophy, and you’ll make more progress than through any more serious negotiation.
Of all the world’s leaders, only Vladimir Putin has been able to keep Trump in his pocket without polishing Trump's boots to a fine mirror sheen, but Putin is a special case. We don't know why, yet, but Putin is unique.
