Trump Tells Michigan Rally He Doesn't Want Norwegians in America—Because He Didn't Win the Nobel Prize

US President Donald Trump told a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday that he does not want Norwegians coming to America, saying it was because he did not win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The remark came on 25 October as Trump discussed immigration, nine days before the 3 November midterm elections. Blaming recent unrest in France on immigrants, he said he would welcome people from some countries, including Denmark, but not from Norway 'because I didn't get the Nobel Prize ... So I don't want anybody from Norway.'

'Frankly, Norway sucks', he told the crowd, before adding, 'Norway has become a shit house country, actually.' He has previously used the same vulgar label for Haiti, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.

He went on to say, 'I don't want anything to do with Norway.' No change to immigration rules for Norwegian nationals has been announced.

Trump was campaigning for former congressman Mike Rogers, the Republican running against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for Michigan's open US Senate seat.

Why Trump Blames Norway for the Nobel Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is chosen by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member panel appointed by Norway's parliament. The government has no role in the decision. Trump has rejected that distinction, telling NBC in January that Norway 'totally controls it despite what they say.'

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said on Monday that Oslo had already made the point to Washington. 'He knows very well that the Nobel Committee is independent. We have reminded them of that, if anyone is wondering, and that is still the case,' he told national broadcaster NRK.

How the Nobel Dispute Escalated

Trump's complaints date back to 10 October 2025, when the committee awarded that year's prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. On 15 January, weeks after US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Machado handed Trump her medal at the White House. The Norwegian Nobel Institute responded that a prize cannot be shared or transferred.

Three days later, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb messaged Trump urging de-escalation after he threatened tariffs on European allies, Norway among them, over his push for US control of Greenland, a Danish territory.

Trump replied: 'Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.'

Pillay's Win Brought Fresh Attacks

On 9 October this year, the committee named Navanethem 'Navi' Pillay, an 85-year-old South African jurist and former UN human rights chief, as the 2026 laureate for her efforts to promote peace and international law. Pillay chaired a UN inquiry that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a finding Israel rejects.

The award, worth 12 million Swedish crowns, about $1.2 million (£898,000), will be presented in Oslo on 10 December.

Hours after the announcement, at a rally in Syracuse, New York, Trump called the decision 'an indelible stain on the country of Norway and those people that made such a disgraceful and embarrassing decision.' He added, 'And we will not forget, Norway.'

In Port Huron, he described Pillay as 'a woman that nobody ever heard of' and repeated his claim to have settled eight wars, a tally fact-checkers have disputed.

Norway Was Trump's Example in 2018

In January 2018, during an Oval Office meeting on immigration, Trump reportedly asked lawmakers why the US was taking in people from 'shithole countries', referring to Haiti and African nations, and suggested admitting more people from places like Norway, according to people briefed on the meeting who spoke to The Washington Post. He had hosted then-Prime Minister Erna Solberg at the White House a day earlier.

Trump denied using the term the following day, writing, 'The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.'

Among the World's Wealthiest Nations

Norway ranks among the highest-income countries by GDP per capita, according to International Monetary Fund data. Its sovereign wealth fund reported a record profit of 1.75 trillion Norwegian crowns, or $184.3 billion (£137.9 billion), for the first half of 2026.