“I may have prevented the total destruction of the world”: Donald Trump’s dream of winning the Nobel Peace Prize still intact

He made it an obsession. On the eve of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize, Friday October 9 in Oslo (Norway), the American president once again defended his candidacy, believing that he would make an ideal winner. “I don’t know what their decision will be. They have a reputation for not attributing it to people like me,” he said from the White House on Wednesday. Before adding: “I think it would be a great discredit to them” if he did not obtain the prize.

Facing journalists, Donald Trump then listed the reasons which, according to him, would justify this reward. “I have settled eight wars,” he said, an argument he has been putting forward for several months. “And I may have prevented the total destruction of the world, because Iran will never have nuclear weapons. And that’s a good thing, a very good thing,” he continued.

“Very honored to receive it indirectly”

Last year, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, María Corina Machado, symbolically presented her Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump. “I was very honored to receive it indirectly,” he recalled on Wednesday.

But this year, his candidacy is official. Donald Trump was registered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Pakistani government, after the deadline for the 2025 edition. These registrations were therefore taken into account for the award of the 2026 Nobel. And even if the chances of him winning the prize are considered minimal, his “spectre” will hang over the announcement of the winner, experts told AFP.