Hours before the announcement of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Donald Trump lashed out at former US President Barack Obama’s 2009 Nobel win, saying he received it for “doing nothing” and “destroying the country.” Trump further said that Obama was “not a good president.”
The comments from the US President came hours before the Norwegian Nobel Committee was set to award the Nobel Peace Prize. The Peace Prize will be announced at 2:30 pm IST.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump questioned the legitimacy of Obama’s Nobel win, stating, “He got it for doing nothing. Obama got a prize, he didn’t even know what he got elected, and they gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country.”
He further accused him of not being a good president. “How many months after he won the election, then they gave him the Peace Prize,” he stated.
Trump also cited his own achievements in brokering peace in Gaza and ending “eight wars,” but insisted he was not motivated by the pursuit of awards.
He expressed frustration that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize only months into his presidency.
Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, barely eight months after taking office, for what the committee described as his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
Speaking at the United Nations last month, Trump praised his own foreign policy, claimed to have ended seven “un-endable” wars, and nominated himself for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“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,” he added.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize but that the process is biased against him.
