Obama Became the Third Sitting U.S. President to Receive the Award, Joining Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt
Donald Trump is once again publicly venting his frustration over Barack Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, reviving a grievance that has lingered since Obama was awarded the honor in 2009.
Trump’s latest remarks came Friday, Jan. 9, during a White House meeting with oil and gas executives focused on Venezuela’s petroleum reserves. The conversation quickly veered from energy policy to Trump’s long-running belief that he, not Obama, deserved the prestigious international award.
“Look, whether people like Trump or don’t like Trump, I settled eight wars, big ones,” Trump said. “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.”
He added, “I can’t think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me.”
However, both India and Pakistan have denied that any third party brokered their ceasefire following four days of conflict in May 2025. Despite those denials, Trump used the moment to take another swipe at Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize less than nine months into his first term.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” when it announced the award in 2009. On the day of the announcement, Obama struck a notably restrained tone, telling reporters in the Rose Garden that he viewed the prize not as a personal achievement, but as “an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.”
Nearly 17 years later, Trump remains visibly irritated by that decision, particularly after being passed over for the prize again in 2025.
“I don’t want to be bragging, but nobody else settled wars,” Trump said Friday. “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 went further, suggesting that Nobel Prizes should be handed out for “every war you stopped,” a notion that runs counter to how the award has historically been granted.
He also floated the idea that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado could present him with her own Nobel-related honor — an offer Machado reportedly made after Trump failed to receive the prize in 2025. Machado, whom several U.S. lawmakers have backed as a potential leader for Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, is expected to visit Washington next week.
That suggestion prompted a rare, pointed clarification from the Nobel organization itself. In a statement issued Friday, the committee underscored that Nobel Peace Prizes are permanent and non-transferable.
“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.”
