Norway pushed back against Donald Trump’s crude weekend attack, with officials clarifying that Oslo holds no sway over the Nobel Peace Prize. The US president’s frustration over the award has once again strained his rhetoric toward a longstanding ally.
Norway’s foreign minister addresses Trump’s comments about the Nobel Committee
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide rejected Trump’s insults on Monday, telling NRK radio that the president “knows very well that the Nobel Committee is independent.” Eide attributed the outburst to campaign-season pressure, saying Trump “is essentially asking his party to own something that it’s clearly very uncomfortable owning, just to help one candidate who might or might not benefit from it.”
Donald Trump unleashed the attack at a Michigan rally on Sunday, telling supporters: “So I’m not in love with Norway. Frankly, Norway sucks. Norway has become a ‘sh*t house’-country, actually.” He added: “I don’t want anything to do with Norway.” The remarks reversed his tone from a day earlier, when he held up Norway as a desirable source of immigrants while insulting Libya, Yemen, Haiti and Somalia at a Georgia event.
Moreover, the Norwegian Nobel Committee backed Eide’s account, declaring itself “entirely independent of the Norwegian government.” Norway’s Parliament appoints the committee’s five members, and sitting government officials have been excluded since 1936.
Trump’s pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize has fuelled repeated grievances. After the committee honoured South African judge Navi Pillay this month, he branded the decision “an indelible stain on the country of Norway.” He also claims he deserves the prize for settling “eight wars,” though several conflicts he cites remain unresolved.
Beyond the prize dispute, Norway and the US have clashed over investment decisions by Oslo’s $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, which drew criticism from Trump’s allies. Norway, a NATO member sharing a border with Russia, has meanwhile boosted defence ties with the UK, Germany and France while stressing its value to US security through monitoring Russia’s Northern Fleet.
