Reports from Europe suggest that President Donald Trump’s campaign to secure a Nobel Peace Prize is being met with amusement rather than admiration. According to a new report, his ongoing lobbying efforts to sway the Norwegian Nobel Committee have sparked skepticism in Oslo, with few believing that the 79-year-old leader has any realistic chance when the winner is revealed this Friday.
The Financial Times notes that the committee—made up of a human rights expert, a foreign policy analyst, and three former ministers—is unlikely to look favorably on Trump’s decision to deploy American troops in Democratic-led cities.
Another diplomatic insider told the Financial Times that Trump’s decision to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War has not helped his case. The European diplomat remarked that awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize “would send out a strange signal.”
The same report mentions that European officials have largely dismissed Trump’s sweeping claims, including his boast of having “ended as many as 10 global conflicts.”
“It has been hard to take some of his proclamations seriously,” the diplomat said, although they acknowledged that Trump’s efforts to bring peace to Gaza could still make headlines before the Nobel announcement. The Financial Times added that Trump has made a notable push this week to secure a breakthrough.
However, even if his diplomatic efforts bear fruit, it may not influence the upcoming decision. The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize is being awarded based on actions carried out during 2024, not the current year.
There is, of course, precedent for an American president receiving the award early in their tenure. In 2009, former President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.” Trump, however, believes that politics and bias are standing in his way.
“If I were named Obama, I would have had the Nobel prize given to me in 10 seconds,” Trump said last year. His complaints have reportedly turned into persistent lobbying and thinly veiled threats.
According to insiders, Trump even raised the topic of the Nobel Prize during a phone conversation with NATO’s former Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who currently serves as Norway’s finance minister. This prompted Norway’s Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, to remind the public that the Nobel Committee operates independently from the government.
Nina Græger, the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told the Financial Times that Trump’s approach could backfire. “Putting pressure on the committee, going on talking about ‘I need the prize, I’m the worthy candidate’—it’s not a very peaceful approach,” she said.
Asle Toje, the deputy chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, also made it clear in an interview with Reuters that pressure tactics do not sit well with the group. “Some candidates push for it really hard, and we do not like it,” he said. “We are used to work in a locked room without being attempted to be influenced. It is hard enough as it is to reach an agreement among ourselves, without having more people trying to influence us.”
