Norway's government pushed back on Monday, October 26, after President Trump attacked the country at a rally over the Nobel Peace Prize, repeating that the Nobel Committee, not the government, picks the winner.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told the public broadcaster NRK, in HuffPost's translation, "He knows very well that the Nobel Committee is independent." He added, "We have reminded him of that, in case anyone is wondering, and that is still the case," HuffPost reported.
What Trump said
Speaking at a midterm rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday, October 25, Trump said Norway "sucks" and used a vulgar term to describe the country. "So, I don't want anybody from Norway," he said, according to HuffPost. He linked his complaint to the prize, saying he "didn't get the Nobel Prize, even though I ended it," and contrasted Norway with Denmark, which he called a "good, nice country."
Trump also said, according to Newsweek, "I settled eight wars and I got two more coming," referring to Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war. HuffPost noted that his count of eight includes conflicts that have not ended or were not violent. Of this year's laureate, he said the prize "was gotten by a woman that nobody ever heard of."
Who won, and why it is contested
The 2026 prize went to Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, an 85-year-old South African jurist and former U.N. human rights chief who has served on international courts and tribunals. The committee cited her work to promote peace and international law, Newsweek reported.
Pillay also headed the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide. Israel rejects that conclusion, and her selection drew criticism from Israel and pro-Israel groups, according to Newsweek. On the day of the announcement, October 9, Trump told a rally in Syracuse, New York, "Today they gave out the Nobel Peace Prize to a person I never heard of."
What the rules actually say
The core of Norway's answer is structural, and it has not changed. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body of five members appointed by Norway's parliament, and the government does not select the winner, Newsweek reported. Members of the government cannot sit on the committee, HuffPost noted.
Erik Aasheim, head of communications at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, told Newsweek, "The Nobel Committee is entirely independent of the Norwegian government." Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has said that "the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government."
Two other rules have come up in the dispute. The committee keeps nomination records secret for 50 years, so public claims of a nomination cannot be confirmed from its files. And when the 2025 laureate, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, gave Trump her medal at a White House meeting in January, Nobel officials said the prize itself cannot be transferred.
Timeline, by the newsroom
February 2025: Trump says of the prize, "They will never give it to me," per Newsweek.
July 2025: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has nominated Trump. Pakistan also announces a nomination that year.
October 2025: The prize goes to Machado.
December 2025: Trump becomes the first recipient of FIFA's new Peace Prize. FIFA said this month that a committee would review the prize's creation and his selection.
January 2026: Trump writes to Støre that he "no longer feels an obligation to think purely of Peace," per Newsweek. HuffPost reported the letter followed Støre joining other European leaders in objecting to Trump's threats to annex Greenland.
October 9, 2026: Pillay is named laureate.
October 25 and 26: The Port Huron remarks and Eide's reply.
Why the structure matters
For Norway, a NATO ally, the official line is that a decision by an independent body cannot be treated as an act of the state. Its prime minister, its foreign minister and the Nobel Institute have each said the same thing over the past year, that the government does not control the outcome. Newsweek said it asked the White House and the Norwegian Embassy in Washington for comment.
The award to a former international jurist comes as Washington is also in a fight with international courts, including its decision to sanction the International Criminal Court itself. For the difference between the two courts in The Hague, see our explainer on the ICC and the ICJ.
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