On October 9, 2025, President Donald Trump criticized former President Barack Obama and the Nobel Committee during a meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb at the White House. Trump compared his record to that of Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.
“He got elected, and they gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country,” Trump said. He added that Obama “didn’t even know” why he won the prize and called him “not a good president.” Trump also remarked, “The worst president was Sleepy Joe Biden, but Obama was not a good president.”
The comments were made during a bilateral meeting where the United States and Finland approved an agreement for the U.S. to purchase 11 icebreaker Arctic Cutter ships. The deal is intended to help the U.S. operate in the Arctic and address Chinese and Russian activities in the region.
Trump was asked about his chances of winning the Nobel Peace Prize following his announcement of a deal between Israel and Hamas, which he claims could lead to lasting peace in the Middle East. Trump stated, “Nobody’s done eight wars in 30 years, let alone nine months.”
He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by several foreign leaders and American officials. This year, there are 338 candidates for the prize, including 244 individuals and 94 organizations. The winner will be announced on Friday.
Trump recently announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace deal. “Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” Trump said on Truth Social. He also stated that “all hostages will be released very soon,” referring to approximately 20 living hostages reportedly held by Hamas.
Trump indicated he plans to travel to Egypt to officially sign the agreement. “I think it’s going to be a lasting peace, hopefully an everlasting peace,” he said.
Trump also addressed ongoing efforts to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “I think they’ll be coming to the table pretty soon,” he told reporters. “We’ll get that solved too.”
When asked about his prospects for the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump responded: “Well, I don’t know. Look, I made seven deals, and now it’s a— solved the wars, one going 31 years, one going 34 years, one going 35 years, one going 10 years. I made seven deals. This would be number eight. The one I thought that I was going to make— and I think we will probably because it’s a ridiculous war, it’s a horrible war, the worst since World War Two, you look at the people— is Russia, Ukraine. I think we’ll do that too. A lot of reasons for them to do it, and I think they’ll be coming to the table pretty soon. But this is the biggest of them all. This is a big one, although I think India and Pakistan is very big. Two nuclear nations, I made that, I did that based on trade and because of the tariffs. If we didn’t have tariffs, you wouldn’t have been able to do it.
But I said, if you guys are going to fight, I’m putting 100% tariffs on each of you, and they immediately stop fighting. And that was going, that was going to go nuclear. You know, that was back and forth. So, I know one thing. I don’t know what they’re going to do, really, but I know this, that Nobody in history has solved eight wars in a period of nine months, and I’ve stopped eight wars. So, that’s never happened before, but they’ll have to do what they do. Whatever they do is fine. I know this: I didn’t do it for that. I did it because I saved a lot of lives, and that’s the thing that bothers me so much about the Russia Ukraine. 7,000 people are dying a week, young soldiers. They’re almost all soldiers of Ukraine and Russia. So, in theory, it doesn’t affect us, no, but it’s a terrible thing, and we’ll get that solved too. But nobody has ever done eight wars. Nobody’s done eight wars in 30 years, let alone nine months.”
In response to a reporter who pointed out that Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize for less significant achievements, Trump replied: “He got a prize for doing nothing. Obama got a prize, he didn’t even know why he got it. He got elected, and they gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country. No, he was a— he was not a good president. The worst president was Sleepy Joe Biden, but Obama was not a good president. They gave him a prize. How many months after he won the election, then they gave the peace prize… my election was a much more important election.”
The Nobel Peace Prize winner will be announced soon among hundreds of nominees from around the world.
