Foreign dignitaries invited to the White House know a thoughtful gift can help lubricate the wheels of diplomacy. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, went the safe route as he arrived in Washington this week, offering a golf club to his golf-mad host, Donald Trump. Past gifts from abroad have included a presidential private jet from Qatar, a posh set of Mont Blanc fountain pens from Angela Merkel (no match for the presidential Sharpie) and a portrait of one Donald J. Trump made with gemstones, courtesy of Vietnam. As a parade of European leaders set out for Washington to support Mr Zelensky, what memorable trinket from their home continent could they possibly bestow upon the president who has everything? Mr Trump, as it happens, no doubt had something in mind. For there is one bauble from Europe he has alluded to repeatedly of late: the medal awarded to recipients of the Nobel peace prize. His pining for the acclaim granted every year by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament is turbocharging American diplomacy in a way that might both encourage Europe and cause it to panic.
