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the explainer
Why Trump is so focused on getting a Nobel Peace Prize
A recent poll found that three-quarters of Americans say Trump doesn’t deserve the award
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A replica of the Nobel Peace Prize at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway
(Image credit: Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP / Getty Images)
Justin Klawans, The Week US
26 September 2025
The winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Oct. 10, and while President Donald Trump may not be the first name that comes to mind for most people, he has very much looked to place himself in the running. The president has long opined that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, commenting on the matter since his first term.
In recent months, Trump has renewed efforts to earn the award (he has been nominated for the prize several times but has never won). He has previously hinted that he deserves the award for his work regarding the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, but most political analysts and a majority of public polls say he has not done enough.
Why does Trump want a Nobel Peace Prize?
Trump seems to want the prize because he believes in his “singular capacity to end some of the world’s toughest conflicts, all largely without the help” of any organization like the United Nations or “any other country,” said Politico. This comes even as the “wars in Ukraine and Gaza are grinding on without any clear end, despite his promises to quickly end both.” Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that he has ended seven wars also fell short at the United Nations General Assembly this week, where “member states made clear they’re still very much engaged in disputes the U.S. president has claimed to solve.”
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But there is also another reason for Trump’s wish, analysts say, as his “public jockeying for the prize reflects his focus on accolades, praise and acceptance — and a burning desire to best his predecessors,” said The New York Times. Former President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize nine months into his first term, and Obama himself “noted that his ‘accomplishments are slight’ compared with those of other winners.” Trump has “repeatedly invoked Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, complaining that he did not deserve the award.”
Could he actually get the prize?
Most insiders say it’s extremely unlikely. Instead of choosing Trump, the five-person committee that decides the prize recipient will probably “wish to highlight a humanitarian organization working in an environment that has become more challenging, partly due to Trump’s U.S. aid cuts,” said Reuters. The Nobel committee also “cherishes” the international world order that Trump is “dismantling.”
The fact that Trump is so open about his desire for the prize may work against him, too. The award-giving committee “prefers to work independently, sheltering from outside pressures,” one of its members told Reuters. Trump has “no chance to get the Peace Prize at all,” said Asle Sveen, a Nobel Peace Prize historian, to Reuters, citing his support for Israel in the Gaza war and his attempts at rapprochement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
And while Trump has “complained about not receiving credit for peace deals reached under his watch,” many of these “so-called deals include provisions that directly benefit the private sector, reducing U.S. diplomacy to a mercantilist collection of false wins that do little to advance peace,” said Foreign Policy. For his talks of peace, Trump is also “on pace to conduct more airstrikes eight months into his presidency than former President Joe Biden did over the course of his entire four years in office.” And in at least one deal that Trump has cited — ending the conflict between India and Pakistan — his “peacemaking boast isn’t just exaggerated, it’s demonstrably false.”
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Justin Klawans, The Week US
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Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
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