'Trump's Nobel Peace Prize: Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't'... Norway 'On Edge'

Trump's Desire for the Prize Has Waned Amid Prolonged Wars
Insists He Deserves It: "I Resolved Eight Wars"

Although assessments suggest that U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire for the Nobel Peace Prize has waned somewhat, reports say Norway is concerned that he may be angered if he does not win.

U.S. President Donald Trump (left) delivers his acceptance speech after receiving the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on the 5th. AP-Yonhap News

The Washington Post (WP) reported on October 8 local time that, ahead of the announcement of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, some in Norway had proposed not announcing a laureate for three years, until President Trump leaves office.

President Trump has recently mentioned the Peace Prize less often, seemingly mindful of the prolonged wars in Iran and Ukraine. Even so, when a reporter asked him in the Oval Office the previous day, “The Nobel Peace Prize laureate will be announced soon. Do you regret spending time trying to win the prize?” he replied, “I resolved eight wars and brought all the hostages home. I did what no one else could do, and no president has ever resolved a war.” He added, “It would be a great disgrace to them [the Nobel Committee] if they didn’t give the prize to someone like me.”

Hakon Gjerloew, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told WP, “To be fair, this is not a prize for saints. There is precedent for it sometimes being awarded to complicated figures who brokered complicated peace negotiations.” He said President Trump could still win the Peace Prize if he “genuinely brokers a peace agreement that everyone can call a ‘great deal.’”

However, President Trump was not on the unofficial list of potential laureates he released. The list also included some organizations Trump has targeted. Given that it featured the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, Netherlands, and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which advocates for press freedom worldwide, there are concerns that he may express displeasure after this year’s laureate is announced.

In January this year, when tensions were high between the United States and Europe over Greenland, President Trump sent a text message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre saying, “Since your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace.” A few weeks later, President Trump started a war against Iran.

Kjetil Tronvoll, vice president for research at Oslo New University College, told WP, “It might be better to suspend the Peace Prize for three years, until he leaves office, so as not to provoke him unnecessarily.” He argued that a thorough risk analysis was needed, saying, “The committee has shown in the past that it lacks contextual and in-depth knowledge of how sensitive this prize is.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is independent of the government. However, there are concerns that President Trump could direct his dissatisfaction with the outcome at the Norwegian government, since the committee members are appointed by parliament.

Meanwhile, South Korean citizens who overcame the December 3 Emergency Martial Law crisis under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration are reportedly among the Nobel Peace Prize nominees. In February this year, Seoul National University professor of political science and international relations Kim Eui-young said that some political scientists, including former and current presidents of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), had nominated South Korea’s “Citizen Collective” for the Nobel Peace Prize in January.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.