United States President Donald Trump has declared that immigrants from Norway are no longer welcome in the country following his failure to secure the latest Nobel Peace Prize.
Addressing his supporters at a campaign rally in Michigan on Monday, Trump condemned the Scandinavian nation while expressing a preference for Danish immigrants. He argued that his administration’s peacemaking efforts, which he claimed ended eight wars, were unfairly ignored, adding that he had previously told his wife, Melania, that winning the prize would be a great honour.
“Frankly, Norway sucks. Norway has become a shithouse country, actually,” Trump stated during the rally. “I will welcome immigrants from Denmark but not from Norway because I didn’t get the Nobel Prize, so I don’t want anybody from Norway.”
Earlier this month, the Nobel committee awarded the prestigious prize to Navi Pillay, a South African and former United Nations human rights chief.
The committee chairman, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, stated that Pillay was recognised for being instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted.
Reacting to the announcement, Trump dismissed Pillay as “a woman that nobody ever heard of” and openly questioned why he was not selected or if two prizes could be awarded.
He described the committee’s decision as a disgraceful, “indelible stain” on Norway, claiming the award has been discredited by radical ideologues who are enemies of civilisation.
Responding to the president’s outburst on the national broadcaster NRK on Monday, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide appealed for diplomacy and restated that the awarding body operates entirely independent of the government.
“He knows very well that the Nobel committee is independent. We have reminded them of that, if anyone is wondering, and that is still the case,” Eide said.
Similarly, Norway’s Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, had previously engaged the US leader last year to explain that the Norwegian government does not dictate or influence the independent committee’s selections.
Meanwhile, Pillay reacted to the president’s grievances with humour. While attending an event at the Nuremberg court, the first non-white female judge of the High Court of South Africa joked with the audience, stating, “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.”
This development follows a similar controversy last year involving Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. After winning the prize and facing heavy criticism from Trump, Machado reportedly presented her medal to him during a White House meeting to acknowledge his support for Venezuela’s freedom.
The Nobel committee, however, restates its strict institutional guidelines, clarifying that once a prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred under any circumstances.
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