One of Republicans’ favorite stories over the past several years has been the regret that Geir Lundestad, former Nobel Peace Prize committee secretary, expressed about awarding President Obama the prize in 2009.

Lundestad, as did many back when the prize was given, said in 2015 that the prize was given to President Obama too early — that he had advocated a noble cause but hadn’t accomplished much tangibly.

Now that some, including President Moon of South Korea, are already saying that Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on de-nuclearizing North Korea, I suggest the prize talk slow down a bit, so as to avoid another preemptive award ceremony.

One could argue – I think convincingly – that securing meetings with Kim is more meritorious than President Obama’s abstract and allegedly “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” but the meeting between Trump and Kim hasn’t happened yet. The testing facilities haven’t closed yet. De-nuclearization hasn’t happened yet.

For Trump to be awarded the prize isn’t likely anyway, considering he doesn’t exhibit the qualities that impress a progressive European group like the Nobel prize committee, but he may truly end up deserving it.

It’s prudent to let a little bit of time pass, though, before that is determined, because who knows what’s going to happen.

President Trump’s national security adviser encouraged such caution before announcing a victory.

“We’ve heard this before,” John Bolton said on Sunday of North Korea’s promise to end its nuclear program. “This is the North Korean propaganda playbook… What we want to see from them is evidence that it’s real and not just rhetoric.”

Again, Trump may end up deserving the prize, but let’s see what happens, as he is prone to say.

@jeremywbeaman is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News