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In 2026, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has the opportunity to do one of the most profound  — and legitimately hilarious — things imaginable: Right before the midterms, it can remind Americans how precious their democracy is, that their country plays a special role in this world, and that Donald Trump is about to destroy it all.

For all of his bravado, the citing of false polls that show his approval rating in triple digits, the claims that hordes of crying men walk up to him just to say that he is doing a great job, and world leaders allegedly falling all over themselves to praise him, the president must know on some level that most Americans (and people in general) find him loathsome.

Since this is not something a world-class narcissist can admit to himself, he has created a bubble of delusion that is rarely pierced. 

It’s one of the reasons that Trump is surrounded by a bunch of bootlickers who fawn over him 24/7 even when he says and does the most asinine things imaginable.

Sometimes, however, reality catches up to him, for example, when the American people voted him out of office in 2020.

Of course, Trump’s solution to that particular rebuke was to pretend it hadn’t happened and attempt a coup. 

Another such reality check came on Friday when the Nobel Peace Prize Committee announced that it was giving this year’s award to Venezuelan activist Maria Corina Machado.

As an aside, we believe that most people who work in the White House these days are despicable human beings. It’s probably a requirement. That being said, we feel a little bad for the poor schlub who had to deliver the news to Trump that he, the “peace president” who according to his own report has, on average, stopped one war every five weeks in office — didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize he so clearly covets.

Now, we are sure that the president and his toadies are going to find some way to explain why he was snubbed. And that is why we think it essential that the committee send an even bigger message next year… one that is unmistakable.

In 2026, it should award the Nobel Peace Prize to the collective of people trying to prevent Donald Trump from turning the United States into an authoritarian state.

Since we don’t meet the criteria to make a nomination, we put together a letter of submission that anybody who is eligible (like college professors) can send to the committee.

Dear Nomination Committee, 

It is my distinct privilege to nominate “The Resistance” for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. The Resistance consists of people from every walk of life who are opposing US President Donald Trump’s efforts to turn the world’s most important democracy into an autocracy.

There is no more important cause at this moment in time. 

The United States, with all its flaws, has always been a beacon for democracy, for a free press, for science, for human rights, and for freedom.

If it were to fall, as it is in danger of doing now, people across the globe would suffer. 

In fact, they are doing so already.

Steep cuts to US foreign aid are expected to result in millions of avoidable deaths as food and medicine no longer reach those in need.

This example also illustrates that the policies President Trump champions run counter to the ideals and the work you have recognized in the past. 

In 2020, you awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Programme for its work to combat hunger. The Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 went to Doctors Without Borders, and that in 1963 to the Red Cross. 

That’s not all. 

You awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and to Al Gore for their work in educating people about this existential threat, and what has to be done to counteract it. 

Currently, the Trump administration is the world’s biggest threat to efforts to combat global warming. 

Most importantly, Donald Trump is a danger to democracy in the United States and across the globe. 

You have made it clear that democracy is the key to peace, and you have recognized many Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Some, like Jimmy Carter (2003) or the European Union (2012) championed democracy without fear of repercussions. 

Many others, however, such as the 2025 winner, Venezuelan activist Maria Corina Machado, are doing so at a high personal cost. 

This is also true for the members of the Resistance. 

They are doing their important work in the face of prosecution and harassment – both at the hands of the US government and supporters of the MAGA movement.

We realize that awarding the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to the Resistance would largely be symbolic. 

There is not one person who should be invited to accept the award on behalf of the millions who are marching on America’s streets for peace and democracy. 

In fact, that is one of the most remarkable aspects of the Resistance. It is not led by anybody in the opposition party, which has shown itself to be feckless. 

Instead, it is inspired every day anew by acts of courage of regular Americans standing up to masked government agents trying to whisk people off the streets; of judges upholding the ideals of the Constitution, which are the very ideals this Committee shares as well; of government workers blowing the whistle of journalists who are not cowed into silence; and of US conservatives who could have gone along with the MAGA movement but instead chose to speak out.

Awarding the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to the Resistance would not only energize them, it would also highlight the danger President Trump poses to his country and the world, and send a message that stopping him, through peaceful protest and at the ballot box, is paramount.

Thank you for considering this submission.

There you have it. We thought about teaching a political science class to be eligible to submit this ourselves, but it would be easier if one of you, dear readers who meet the nomination criteria, would do this for us (and please let us know if you do). 

We really believe that this is important and, let’s face it, it would also be objectively one of the most hilarious things ever in light of how much Trump is pining to win the Nobel Peace Prize himself. 

Or at least it would be really funny…  right up to the point when he sends Seal Team Six after the people on the nominating committee, or declares war on Norway (and, by the way, the fact that Norwegian politicians were bracing themselves for the fallout from a Trump snub should tell you all you need about whether the “peace president” should ever be considered for this award). 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.