When and why did Obama receive Nobel peace prize? Donald Trump Jr calls former president’s getting award “affirmative action”

Donald Trump Jr. has claimed in a recent tweet that former President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize was a result of “affirmative action.” In a post on X, President Donald Trump’s son wrote,

“Affirmative action is when Barack Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize instead of Donald Trump.”

Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, around 8 months into his first term as President of the United States. Obama was awarded the esteemed award for working on international cooperation. According to the Nobel Prize website, the former President was awarded the prize for:

“his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

While receiving the prize back in 2009, the then-President said,

“I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations – that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.”

Donald Trump Jr. post came in the wake of the withdrawal of President Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize

Donald Trump Jr.’s referencing Barack Obama came after it was reported that his father, Donald Trump’s name had been withdrawn from the list of nominees for the esteemed prize.

Oleksandr Merezhko, who heads Ukraine's parliamentary foreign committee, had nominated the President for a Nobel Peace Prize in November. On June 23, Merezhko withdrew his nomination, and while speaking to Newsweek about the reason behind the withdrawal, said that he has “lost any sort of faith and belief” in the President’s capacity to help negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict between his country, Ukraine, and Russia. In his conversation with Newsweek, Merezhko said,

“he is dodging—the need to impose sanctions on Russia…He has chosen the path of appeasement.”

Meanwhile, the government of Pakistan stated that it would “formally recommend” President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in his efforts to sustain a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan, according to Time Magazine.

As per BBC, the government of Pakistan posted on X that it would recommend Trump:

"in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis.”

Earlier, President Trump had expressed his disapproval at not being recognized for the prestigious peace prize despite his various achievements in international diplomacy. Taking to Truth Social, he said that under his directive, a treaty has been signed between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. He added,

“This is a Great Day for Africa and, quite frankly, a Great Day for the World! I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for this, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between India and Pakistan, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between Serbia and Kosovo, I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for keeping Peace between Egypt and Ethiopia...I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for doing the Abraham Accords in the Middle East”

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Forbes notes that the deadline for the 2025 Nobel peace prize nominations was January 2025. With Merezhko’s withdrawal, it is not confirmed if Trump will be considered for the prize in 2025. Meanwhile, Forbes also reports that Pakistan has nominated Trump for the 2026 edition of the Nobel peace prize.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama has not responded to Donald Trump Jr.'s comment on his Nobel peace price win.

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