Donald Trump Jr. suggested that former President Barack Obama’s being Black is the reason he has been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize—and that his father has not.
“Affirmative action is when Barack Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize instead of Donald Trump,” Trump Jr. posted Tuesday on X.
The statement comes as President Donald Trump and some Republican voices have expressed that Trump deserves the more than century-old Swedish honor bestowed upon recipients “who have promoted or achieved peace worldwide” because of his deal-making in various international conflicts, most recently the Israel-Iran conflict that has, for now, resulted in a ceasefire.
For years, dating back to his first term in office, Trump has vented about Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize and the fact that he had not received one of his own. Last week, the president told reporters that the prize, awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee on behalf of the estate of Alfred Nobel, should be presented to him for helping to tamp down several wars, including between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Serbia and Kosovo, India and Pakistan, and even the Abraham Accords peace agreement his first administration brokered between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
“I should have gotten [a Nobel Peace Prize] four or five times,” said Trump. “They won’t give me a Nobel Peace Prize because they only give it to liberals.”
Obama received his Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, just eight months into his administration. The Norwegian Nobel Committee honored America’s first Black president for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” particularly for his outreach to the Muslim international community.
Reactions to President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize were mixed. Though Obama said at the time that he was “deeply humbled” by the award, he acknowledged he was “surprised.”
While Trump’s wish to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize has not materialized, he has been nominated. The Pakistan government announced on June 20 that it had nominated him for the honor due to his “decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership” in addressing the tensions between the country and India. However, the East Asian country is now debating whether to rescind the nomination after Trump ordered strikes in Iran.
Republican Congressman Buddy Carter of Georgia also nominated Trump after securing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran following 12 days of bombing. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican from California, did the same earlier this year, citing that Trump’s 2024 election victory had an “astonishingly effective impact” on peace in the world.
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize deadline was Jan. 31. According to the website, there were 338 candidates. Three other U.S. presidents have received the award: Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, Woodrow Wilson in 1919, and Jimmy Carter in 2002.
