President Donald Trump has said he wants to win a Nobel Peace Prize. But experts warn that his remarks could “backfire.”
Photo from the Norwegian Nobel Committee
In recent months, President Donald Trump has repeatedly promoted himself as deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious awards.
“Everyone says I should get the Nobel Peace Prize,” he said in his address to the U.N. General Assembly in September.
Justifying this view, he’s stated that he resolved seven foreign wars, including between Israel and Iran and between India and Pakistan.
“Nobody’s ever done that,” he told a group of military leaders in late September. “Will you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not. They’ll give it to some guy that didn’t do a damn thing.”
And, in July, the Republican president called Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s finance minister, to discuss tariffs and his effort to secure the Nobel Peace Prize, according to Politico.
A number of U.S. and foreign officials have also formally nominated Trump for the high honor , McClatchy News previously reported.
Has this kind of public lobbying campaign been done before? And will it help or hurt Trump’s chances of winning? McClatchy News spoke with experts ahead of Oct. 10, the date the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced.
Have there been lobbying campaigns before?
“It is not common diplomatic practice for individuals to present themselves as candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Annika Bergman Rosamond, a professor of international relations at the University of Edinburgh, told McClatchy News. “Thus, past winners have not tended to actively put themselves forward as potential winners.”
“Typically those who might be candidates don’t advertise their brazen self-interest,” Michael Barnett, a professor of international affairs at George Washington University, told McClatchy News. “You want people to seem like they are genuinely committed to making the world a better place and not for their own glory.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prize, consists of five individuals appointed by the Norwegian parliament. It accepts nominations from a number of qualified people, including government officials, academics and past winners. Nominations for the 2025 prize must have been submitted by Jan. 31.
Some experts pointed out that, while public pressure campaigns are unusual, there have been occasional instances of discreet self-advocacy among Nobel Peace Prize hopefuls.
“There have been a few times where there is a campaign,” Barnett said. “Usually a whisper campaign though. Elie Wiesel if the rumors are to be believed.”
Wiesel, an author and Holocaust survivor, won the prize in 1986.
Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor of peace and conflict studies at Oslo New University College, told McClatchy News that “an Asian politician” had lobbied for their own nomination about 20 years ago.
Kim Dae-jung, the former president of South Korea, won the peace prize in 2000. It was revealed three years later that he had established a secret campaign to secure the award, thereby tarnishing his reputation.
Will it work?
Trump’s track record on promoting peace aside, experts cautioned that his intense efforts to obtain the peace prize are likely counterproductive.
“The Norwegian cultural attitude of non self-promotion (the Jante rule) runs deep — and to campaign for the prize will be looked down upon and backfire, having a negative effect on the prize committee’s inclination to entertain the idea of offering the prize to such a candidate,” Tronvoll said.
The Law of Jante is a Scandinavian cultural tradition that states that personal success must not be enjoyed publicly.
“The Nobel Committee is not particularly happy about blatant campaigns, and my hunch is that they will view self-promotion with particular skepticism,” Nils Petter Gleditsch, a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told McClatchy News.
Asle Toje, the deputy leader of the present Norwegian Nobel Committee, echoed the view that promotional campaigns are ineffective.
“These types of influence campaigns have a rather more negative effect than a positive one,” Toje told Reuters. “Because we talk about it on the committee. Some candidates push for it really hard and we do not like it.”
“We are used to work(ing) in a locked room without being attempted to be influenced,” Toje added. “It is hard enough as it is to reach an agreement among ourselves, without having more people trying to influence us.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2025 at 6:36 PM.
Brendan Rascius
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