Trump continues to fume over Obama winning the Nobel Prize as organization reminds him award can’t be transferred
Obama became the third sitting U.S. president to receive the award, joining Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt
President Donald Trump still has a gripe over former President Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
During a meeting with oil and gas executives regarding Venezuela’s oil reserves on Friday (Jan. 9), Trump turned his attention back to the coveted award
“Look, whether people like Trump or don’t like Trump, I settled eight wars, big ones. Some going on for 36 years, 32 years, 31 years, 28 years, 25 years, some just getting ready to start like India and Pakistan, where already eight jets were shot out of the air,” Trump said.
He added, “I can’t think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me.”
Both India and Pakistan have denied that third parties were involved in their ceasefire following four days of conflict between the two countries in May 2025. Trump, however, took a swipe at Obama winning the prize in 2009, less than nine months into his presidency, where the Nobel Committee concluded Obama was perfect for the honor for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
On the day it was announced he would receive the award in 2009, Obama said in the Rose Garden, “I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.”
Still, nearly 17 years later, Trump remains agitated that Obama received the award, continuing his campaign for the award after being passed over in 2025.
“I don’t want to be bragging, but nobody else settled wars,” Trump said. “Obama got the Nobel Prize. He had no idea why. He still has no idea. He walks around, he says, ‘I got the Nobel Prize’. Why did he get a Nobel Prize? He got it almost immediately upon attaining office, and he didn’t do anything, and he was a bad president.”
Trump also suggested that you should be awarded the Nobel Prize for “every war you stopped.”
The President has also floated the idea of Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado presenting him with her award, an offer she made to him last week after he was not awarded the honor in 2025. Machado, whom many U.S. lawmakers believe should lead Venezuela after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, is set to visit Washington next week.
The Nobel Committee issued a statement on Friday (Jan. 9), confirming that the prize could not be transferred or shared after it has been awarded.
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute receive a number of requests for comments regarding the permanence of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s status,” the statement read. “The facts are clear and well established. Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.”
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