‘Norway Sucks’: Trump Attacks Country Over Nobel Peace Prize Snub

Topline

President Donald Trump attacked Norway during a campaign rally on Sunday and said he doesn’t want anyone from the country coming to the U.S., renewing his criticism of the Oslo-based Nobel Committee for not awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

Key Facts

Speaking at a campaign rally in Michigan, Trump repeated his dubious claim that he stopped eight wars and said he told First Lady Melania Trump a week before the Nobel announcement, “it’ll be a great honor to get the Nobel Peace Prize.”

The president then reiterated his complaints about human rights lawyer Navi Pillay, calling her “a woman that nobody ever heard of,” and said he even asked, “What about me? Do they do two of them?”

Trump then said: “Frankly, Norway sucks. Norway has become a shithouse country, actually,” a label he’s previously applied to countries including Haiti, Somalia and Yemen.

While discussing immigration, Trump said he would welcome people from Denmark but didn’t “want anybody from Norway” or “anything to do with Norway” because of the Nobel snub.

Despite Trump’s attacks against Norway, the country’s government has repeatedly stated the Nobel Committee is independently run and it has no role in determining the winners of the prizes.

What Did Trump Previously Say About The Nobel Snub?

After Pillay was declared the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, Trump wrote a lengthy Truth Social post, claiming: “I know nothing about this woman, and neither does anyone else! In fact, to the best of my knowledge, no one ever heard of her other than the fact that she, very obviously, hates Israel.” The president claimed he “should have won 8 Nobel Peace Prizes, not just 1,” and wrote the outcome was an “indelible stain on Norway, one that will never be forgotten.” A day later, Trump reiterated his claim about settling eight wars and once again complained about the snub.

Key Background

In January, Trump wrote a letter to Norway’s Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, expressing his displeasure at not being picked as last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner. “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” the president wrote, seemingly linking his threats to take over Greenland by force to the Nobel snub. Trump added peace “will always be predominant,” but added he “can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”

tangent

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize last year and she met with Trump at the White House in January, weeks after he carried out a raid to capture the country’s president Nicholas Maduro. During their White House meeting, Machado presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump, who said, “María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” and called the move a “wonderful gesture of mutual respect.” In a statement, the Nobel Committee clarified that: “A Nobel Prize can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time.”

further reading

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Pillay Slams Trump Administration’s ‘Cruel’ International Criminal Court Sanctions (Forbes)

Trump Ties Greenland Threats To Him Not Winning Nobel Peace Prize In Letter To Norway’s Leader (Forbes)