If anyone deserves the Nobel Peace Prize it is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, not US President Donald J. Trump, says Professor Dennis Etler, an American political analyst who has a decades-long interest in international affairs.

Etler, a former professor of Anthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Thursday while commenting on a recent statement by Trump in which he said that "everyone thinks" he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it," Trump said on Wednesday when asked by a reporter in the White House if he thinks he should win the prestigious award.

“Does Donald J Trump deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? While the gold that the medal is minted from will not tarnish the prize itself has lost its luster. It has become a bauble to hang around the necks of imperialist hangmen,” Professor Etler said.

“Trump sees peace on the Korean peninsula as a demonstration of his own personal prowess. He has established himself as impervious to political criticism which allows him to conduct himself in a manner that his predecessors could not. Thus he can push forward the peace process with North Korea in a fashion that would has been impossible for previous US presidents who would have been stymied by political foes who would have lambasted him for making the concession that no other US president was willing to make, direct negotiations with the leader of the DPRK and recognition of his position as a diplomatic equal,” he stated.

"If any other US president had attempted to do that Trump would have been the first to rake him over the coals for betraying ‘American values’ and caving into a two bit despot. But Trump sees the opportunity to meet with Kim Jong-un as a vindication of his war-mongering rhetoric and saber rattling directed against Kim and the North,” he added.

"In fact, if anyone deserves the Nobel Peace Prize it is Kim Jong-un, not Donald J. Trump. The US has never allowed the Korean War to end with a peace treaty that recognized the DPRK as a legitimate government and guaranteed its sovereignty. Previous US administrations have viewed North Korea as a pariah state that had to be quarantined from the community of nations," he said.

“The fulsome praise that Trump has recently lavished on Kim Jong-un would have been considered anathema by any previous US politician. Kim however was able to parlay his nuclear and missile programs into a calling card that opened the door to the initiation of the peace process that his forebears were not able to accomplish. By developing a credible nuclear deterrent Kim forced Trump’s hand. The US president was hard-pressed not to accept Kim’s peace overtures and promise to denuclearize once the DPRK’s long-standing demand for recognition and a peace treaty are met,” the analyst said.

Trump, the opportunist

“Trump, being the opportunist that he is, accepted Kim’s advances without hesitation as he saw it as a means to buttress his presidency and portray himself as a peace-maker. By lobbying for the Nobel Peace Prize he seems to have almost preordained the success of the initiative,” Professor said.

“Whether or not he receives the award Trump will use the possibility as a cover for his aggressive actions elsewhere in the world. For instance, there is no rational reason for Trump to scuttle the nuclear deal with Iran other than it was negotiated by his arch rival Obama. Trump is so vainglorious that whatever Obama accomplished during his presidency has be reversed in order to prove Trump’s own self-worth. Trump never forgave Obama for the embarrassing ridicule he received during the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner. Thus the JCPOA negotiated during the Obama administration is characterized by Trump as ‘the worst deal ever,’” he added.

“In reality, the primary reason Trump is willing to seek peace in Korea but scuttle it with Iran is because he is a in bed with both the Israelis and Saudis. This adulterous menage a trois is the prime source of instability in the Middle East and the source of conflict throughout the region. It is in the interests of US Imperialism, Israeli Zionism and Saudi Salafism to portray Iran as the culprit even though it is Iran whose sovereignty is under attack by all three. Iran has been the primary force combating terrorism throughout the Middle East not its instigator as Trump and his Zionist and Saudi allies contend,” the commentator noted.

“Trump is no advocate of peace. He will use his feint to the East in Korea as a cover for his aggression in the Middle East and the rest of the world,” he concluded.