‘He wanted the Nobel’: Trump cold-calls Norwegian minister about peace prize

A Norwegian politician is at the centre of a media storm after reports US President Donald Trump made a surprise phone call to discuss tariffs – and then asked about winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, a former NATO secretary-general, has confirmed the call and said the two men talked about tariffs, but he would not comment on whether Trump also said he wanted to win the prize.

The account of the phone call, first reported by Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, has set off new speculation about Trump’s efforts to win the prestigious award after several national leaders said he should gain the recognition.

“Out of the blue, while Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg was walking down the street in Oslo, Donald Trump called,” the newspaper reported.

“He wanted the Nobel Prize – and to discuss tariffs.”

The prize, to be announced on October 10, is one of the world’s most prestigious honours. It is decided in Oslo by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, an independent group of five members chosen by the Norwegian Parliament.

Trump has stepped up his claims to the prize in the lead-up to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday (Saturday AEST) to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine, amid concerns among European leaders about whether he can secure a good outcome.

In a sign that he has heard those concerns, Trump reportedly told the European leaders in an online meeting on Wednesday that he would not make any concessions on territory without Ukraine being part of the decision.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, London time, to highlight the European solidarity, ensuring media coverage of their meeting at 10 Downing Street.

Starmer and Zelensky did not hold a press conference and made no comments that might create any tension with Trump before the summit in Alaska, but the images of the London meeting came one day after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hosted Zelensky in Berlin for a similar show of unity.

News site Politico said a government official in Oslo, who it did not name, had confirmed the Trump phone call about the Nobel Peace Prize.

The phone call came at a sensitive time between the US and Norway because Trump is preparing to impose new tariffs on the country, among many others, and was due to speak to Norwegian Prime Minister Janus Store.

Stoltenberg confirmed the call in a statement to Politico but did not comment on whether the discussion included the prize.

“It is true that President Trump called me a few days before his conversation with Prime Minister Store,” he said.

Trump set a tariff rate of 15 per cent for Norway in his trade decision on July 31, in line with the rate for its neighbours. Norway is not a member of the European Union.

Last year, the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, a group that lobbies governments to abolish nuclear weapons. It awarded the prize to Barack Obama in 2009, in his first term as US president.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on August 1 that Trump had used “maximum leverage” to gain peace and was overdue for the Nobel.

Leavitt cited the president’s talks to end conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, Pakistan and India, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on July 29 that his decision on the conflict was not due to outside influence. “No world leader asked us to stop the operation,” he told the Indian parliament, without naming Trump.

The White House press secretary also cited an end to conflict between Israel and Iran. The two countries are not currently engaged in fighting but are not at peace following Trump’s decision to deploy bunker-busting bombs against Iran’s nuclear sites.

“This means President Trump has brokered, on average, about one peace deal or ceasefire per month during his six months in office,” Leavitt said.

“It’s well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Since those remarks, Trump has hosted leaders from Azerbaijan and Armenia to sign a peace deal at the White House.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump in July, when they spoke at the White House, that he had nominated him for the prize. As cameras filmed their meeting, Netanyahu handed Trump the letter he had sent to the Nobel Committee.

The Pakistan government said in June it would nominate Trump for the prize, while Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said last week he had lodged a nomination in Trump’s favour.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev praised Trump at their White House appearance and backed the idea of giving him the prize.

Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told Breitbart News, a conservative media outlet, that Trump “absolutely” deserved the prize for his help in ending a long conflict with the DRC.

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