Donald Trump has not won the Nobel Peace Prize. Almost certainly, he will never win the Nobel Peace Prize, for all the begging he’s done for it over the years. And no, he’s been gifted the prize from the actual winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, does not make him the rightful winner of the prize.
Why hasn’t he won it? The Nobel Peace Prize Institute has now weighed in.
The Atlantic this weekend interviewed both the head of the Nobel Institute and the prime minister of Norway about Trump’s doomed Nobel quest.
Exclusive: Trump’s threats over the Nobel Peace Prize in his infamous text to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre brought the debate over Greenland “to a level where we don’t solve problems,” Støre told @isaacstanbecker and @shustry: https://t.co/BZR26IvZGu
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) February 15, 2026
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Jonas Gahr Støre, the prime minister of Norway, told The Atlantic about the text Trump sent him, in which he made clear that he viewed his quest for a U.S. takeover of Greenland as revenge for his lack of a Nobel Peace Prize.
“What did I think?” Støre told The Atlantic in the interview. “I thought, Well, it’s just bringing the debate to a level where we don’t solve problems.”
“I reminded him every time that it’s not my decision; it’s not the government’s decision. This is an independent committee. It is staunchly independent,” the prime minister said of Trump’s apparent belief that the Norwegian leader controls the prize.
In a separate interview, Kristian Berg Harpviken, the head of the Nobel Peace Prize Institute, told The Atlantic about his reaction to Trump’s quest, albeit while speaking in euphemism.
— Roadches webmasterhonda (@Roadches) February 16, 2026
“We cannot discuss specific names,” he said, although he did refer to Trump as “the candidate in question.”
“We see it as important that as many people as possible understand how it is that we work and what the principles are,” Harpviken told the magazine. “Whether those lobbying for the prize are receptive to that or not is really beyond our control.”
“We haven’t had the embassy or officials knocking on our doors. Nothing like that,” he added, when asked if there had been pressure from any politicians.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
