Donald Trump makes last-minute bid for the Nobel Peace Prize with statement about committee
Four US presidents have won the Nobel Peace prize, with Donald Trump saying he deserves to be the fifth, even though he admits that the committee might not see it that way.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, the president said: "I don't know what [the Norwegian Nobel Committee's] decision is going to be. They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me.
Trump said he was honoured to have recieved the prize indirectly last time around. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave him her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal in January as she sought US support for her efforts, and he said the recipient told him ‘nobody in history deserves it more than President Trump’.
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Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the accolade.
He also said his efforts to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon had saved millions of lives and 'stopped maybe the total obliteration of the world.'
US-Israel strikes on Iran have led to a seven-month simmering conflict that has upended global energy supplies and driven gas prices up ahead of November's midterm elections, while a resolution to Russia's war in Ukraine has eluded Trump, who promised to end it on the first day of his second White House term.
Which countries nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize?
The leaders of Cambodia, Israel and Pakistan have said they nominated Trump for the prize, though there is no way to verify that.
Parties to some of the conflicts Trump claims to have resolved dispute his diplomatic role, and fighting has flared in some of those regions, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and along the border between Cambodia and Thailand.
If successful, he would follow Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama as US presidents to win the prize.
Who is favourite to win the Nobel Peace Prize 2026?
Pope Leo, the International Criminal Court and Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, are among the favorites to win this year.
Leo has said he will keep speaking out against war after Trump called him ‘weak’ for criticizing the US conflict with Iran. His encyclical on AI, advocacy for dialogue and humanitarian work could all justify a prize.
Karim Haggag, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said of the pontiff: “He has emerged as a leading thought leader.”
Albanese has been under fire from the US and Israel for criticizing Israel's conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank.
Haakon Gjerloew, acting director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said the five-strong judging body will be mindful of picking someone who can withstand pressure from Trump.
“I think last year's events around the Nobel Peace Prize, Maria Corina Machado giving it to Trump afterwards, will affect some of the considerations that they make,” he said.
Oeivind Stenersen, a historian and expert on the Nobel Peace Prize, said the committee is also under scrutiny to address Trump's approach to global diplomacy: “In this serious international situation, this year calls for a Peace Prize in defence of liberal democracy, international law and human rights.”
UNILAD has contacted the White House for comment.
Topics: Donald Trump, World News
Thomas Bamford