Trump throws another tantrum about not getting Nobel, declares war on Norway

TOI correspondent from Washington: Donald Trump has ended eight wars, or so he says, but he cannot make peace with the Norwegian Nobel committee. The US President threw an almighty tantrum on Friday night after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize he has long coveted, declaring it “forever discredited,” and denouncing Oslo for an “indelible stain” on its reputation -- because it did not award him.He also dismissed this year’s winner, Navi Pillay, as a woman “nobody has ever heard of” and “I don’t know what the woman has done,” even as his administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the move was aimed at ending the threat the “rogue court” posed to U.S. sovereignty. Pillay, a South African of Indian origin, has long been part of the international justice system.“I settled 8 WARS, am close to ending or settling 2 more… Yet, with all of that I, or the United States of America, did not get the Noble Peace Prize. WOW!” Trump posted on his “Truth Social” platform, misspelling the award, which is named after Alfred Nobel, not the adjective. This came after a ten-minute tirade at a rally in Syracuse, were he said rejecting him for the award reflects poorly on Norway and “those people that made such an disgraceful and embarrassing decision.”“We will not forget,” he warned NorwayIt was a monumental meltdown from a president who has spent years making sure everyone hears about how much he deserves the prize. But his tirades are now becoming the butt of jokes, with comparisons being made to a child overturning the dinner table because somebody else got the birthday cake. “Trump is beginning to resemble a jilted suitor who insists he never wanted the relationship in the first place, while checking the other person's social media every five minutes,” one wag quipped.The MAGA boss has been cultivating his Nobel grievance with the dedication of a schoolboy campaigning for head prefect, repeatedly claiming credit for ending eight wars -- including a four-day skirmish between India and Pakistan -- complaining that his supposed diplomatic achievements have gone unrecognised. Last year, he was reported to have phoned Norwegian finance minister Jens Stoltenberg to press his case, illustrating the extraordinary spectacle of an American president lobbying for a personal honour that is meant to recognise contributions to peace, not the persistence of its most enthusiastic applicant.He has also cited endorsements from foreign leaders, including Pakistan’s Shahbaz Sharif, for his claim. Just hours before the Nobel Committee announced the award, Sharief again fed into the fetish, posting on X: President Donald Trump played a historic role in advancing peace in South Asia. His timely intervention helped bring Pakistan and India back from the brink and secure a ceasefire, that is holding till today. In recognition of his outstanding contribution, Pakistan had nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. We sincerely hope President’s efforts to promote peace and prevent conflict in our region receive due recognition this time.Pakistan had already announced it nominated him for the 2025 Award. Sharif’s last-minute reminder was therefore less a fresh discovery of Trump's peacemaking genius than another attempt to suck up to the MAGA boss. The Nobel committee proved impervious to the diplomatic equivalent of sending flowers before the results.Trump's disappointment is not new. Last year, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gave him her Nobel medal, a gesture that apparently did not satisfy his desire for the real thing. FIFA subsequently created a peace prize of its own for him (dubbed the “Appease Prize” by comedians), but even the consolation trophy failed to close the gap between what he has received and what he believes he is owed.This year’s snub has also revived his antipathy towards South Africa, whose government he has repeatedly attacked over its domestic policies and its legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Pillay, an 85-year-old jurist who fought apartheid and served as UN high commissioner for human rights, was an especially unwelcome choice for a president hostile to the international institutions with which she has been associated.Pillay, five years older than the 80-year old US Prez, was not entirely without a sense of humor about Trump the tyke. After receiving the prize, she joked that she might share it with him if the applause was sufficiently enthusiastic. It was a generous offer, though one suspects Trump would prefer the original -- in gold -- with his name engraved on it.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.