President Donald Trump used a White House press briefing this week to reflect on his first year back in office, but much of his commentary drifted toward a familiar grievance: his long-standing frustration over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaking to reporters on the anniversary of his return to the presidency, Trump listed what he described as major diplomatic accomplishments, repeatedly emphasizing his role in easing international tensions. According to Trump, his efforts impressed not only U.S. allies but even America’s geopolitical rivals.
He claimed that leaders from around the world had been astonished by his ability to bring adversaries to the negotiating table. Trump went so far as to say that Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed disbelief at one of Trump’s claimed conflict resolutions.
“I brought presidents and prime ministers together. We settled things people said could never be settled,” Trump said, asserting that global leaders personally supported his bid for the Nobel Peace Prize. He maintained that multiple parties involved in international conflicts had nominated him for the award.
The former and current president has spoken increasingly about the Nobel Peace Prize in recent weeks, especially after Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado herself a Nobel Peace Prize laureate visited the White House and presented Trump with her medal and diploma.
Trump later shared the moment on social media, describing the gesture as an acknowledgment of his involvement in efforts to challenge the Maduro regime and support democratic reforms in Venezuela. He framed Machado’s action as a symbolic recognition of what he considers his peace-building record.
Despite Trump’s repeated claims that he helped resolve numerous global conflicts during his time in office, those assertions have been widely disputed. In October, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to Machado for her leadership in Venezuela’s democratic opposition and her campaign for electoral transparency work that reportedly forced her into hiding for several months.
Machado formally accepted the prize in Norway after making a dangerous journey out of Venezuela. While she later chose to present her medal to Trump as a personal gesture, the Norwegian Nobel Committee made it clear that this act did not transfer the prize or its historical recognition.
In a strongly worded statement, the committee emphasized that Nobel Peace Prizes are final, non-transferable, and permanently recorded in the name of the original recipient. The medal and diploma, they explained, are symbolic items and do not determine who is officially recognized as a laureate.
The committee further clarified that Nobel prizes cannot be shared, reassigned, or revoked under any circumstances. Once awarded, the decision stands for all time, regardless of what happens to the physical items associated with the prize.
While the committee acknowledged that laureates are free to do as they wish with their medals and diplomas, it stressed that such actions have no bearing on the official record. The Nobel institution also stated that it does not involve itself in the ongoing political activities or statements of prize recipients after the award has been granted.
Ultimately, the committee reiterated that Nobel Peace Prizes are judged based on contributions up to the point of the award decision and that any later developments fall solely under the responsibility of the individual laureate.
So, where’s ’Putin’s eight words’?? 🤷🏼♀️
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