As Catholics continue to celebrate Christmas — the holy occasion when the Prince of Peace was born in Bethlehem into a conflict-torn world — it’s an appropriate moment to consider the prospects for “peace on earth.” 

In recent years, while war has raged in Ukraine and more recently the Middle East, Pope Francis has been one of only a handful of world leaders who has advocated tirelessly for a peaceful end to these terrible conflicts. 

Sadly, the Holy Father’s labors and prayers have not been enough to stop the fighting. He needs help, and it could come from an unexpected ally: Donald Trump. 

The president-elect’s critics have done their best in the past to paint him as a reckless warmonger. Nevertheless, his first term was marked by being the first president in nearly 50 years to have not started a new war. Trump was also instrumental to the easing tensions in the Arab-Israeli sphere by mediating the Abraham Accords in 2020, which normalized diplomatic relations between Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan. 

But in the 2024 race against President Joe Biden and eventually Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump was the peace candidate, at least as far as the Ukraine war is concerned. 

During the campaign, Trump promised a swift end to the war there if he was elected. And with his inauguration now just weeks away, there’s reason to hope that he can deliver, based on one of his trademark traits. 

Trump’s most defining characteristic — in politics as well as in business — is that he’s a dealmaker who believes in negotiating from a position of strength, not weakness.  

Ahead of his return to the Oval Office, the president-elect has already moved to apply this approach internationally. In the wake of Trump’s repeated insistence that he would quickly bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table if he won the election, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month indicated a new willingness to begin negotiations without first regaining all the territory it has lost to Russia.  

He and Trump also spoke in Paris on Dec. 7 in a conversation Zelenskyy described afterward as “productive.” Following that meeting, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump called in a social-media post for “an immediate cease-fire” followed by negotiations in order “to make a deal and stop this madness.” He referenced Russian President Vladimir Putin in his comments as well, advising that it’s “now his time to act.” According to one report, a Ukrainian official indicated after the meeting that this advisory is unlikely to be dismissed out of hand, because Trump is likely the only leader that Putin fears.  

Extravagant rhetoric — particularly via social media — is another Trumpian hallmark, of course, so it remains to be seen whether his recent verbal interventions will result in concrete movement towards a cessation of hostilities. Also, as Zelenskyy stressed in his conversation with Trump, Ukraine requires “a just and enduring peace” that “Russians will not be able to destroy in a few years, as they have done repeatedly in the past.” The local Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, as well as informed Catholic analysts like George Weigel, have been similarly skeptical about the chances of achieving a fair settlement through a negotiated peace while the Russian invaders are still occupying Ukrainian land. 

Still, whatever the final fruits of Trump’s actions might turn out to be, it’s notable they have already generated movement from the Ukrainian side toward negotiation. From a Catholic perspective, it’s also notable that this prioritization of negotiations aligns with the position Pope Francis has advanced since the war began nearly three years ago. 

Trump’s propensity for aggressive dealmaking, in advance of his formal return to power, is also on display in the Mideast context. In a Nov. 25 interview with Time, published Dec. 12 when the magazine designated him its “2024 Person of the Year,” Trump disclosed he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted Israel to secure an immediate cease-fire with Hamas militants in Gaza. And in early December, he followed up by publicly warning Hamas there will be “all hell to pay” if they don’t release the hostages the Islamic militants have been holding since their Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 Israelis. 

On Dec. 12 — the same day as the publication of the Time interview — Jake Sullivan, the Biden administration’s national security adviser, announced that Netanyahu “is ready to do a deal.” The Wall Street Journal also reported that day that Hamas was now prepared to release its hostages.  

It’s uncertain how much of this can be credited directly to Trump’s interventions. But at a minimum, they clearly didn’t impede the renewed movement towards a cease-fire. 

In the Time interview, Trump repeatedly declined to offer specifics about what he thought was needed to achieve a more permanent peace, commenting he would “support whatever solution” seemed likeliest to succeed.  

“So what I want is a deal where there’s going to be peace and where the killing stops,” he emphasized. 

It’s not possible to know whether Trump’s prescriptions about how to break the Russia-Ukraine military deadlock, or about the best way to navigate the seemingly insoluble divisions that beset the battle-scarred Mideast, will prove successful. But what can be said is that he appears to possess a powerful inclination towards peace — and that this is an inclination that Catholics should share, as disciples of Jesus.