With only a few hours left before this year’s Nobel Peace Prize announcement, The Guardian reports that Norwegian politicians are bracing for potential consequences in U.S.–Norway relations if the prize is not awarded to U.S. President Donald Trump.
It was no coincidence that the Nobel Committee rushed to clarify on Thursday that it had already made its final decision during a meeting held last Monday—several days before the Israel–Hamas ceasefire, which was reached under Trump’s U.S.-backed peace plan.
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize is set to be announced on Friday, October 10. Given the timing and the independent five-member committee’s composition, most Nobel observers and experts consider it highly unlikely that Trump will be this year’s laureate. This has raised concern in Oslo about how the U.S. president might react if publicly overlooked.
Kirstie Bergstø, leader of Norway’s Socialist Left Party and foreign policy spokesperson, told The Guardian that Norway “must be prepared for anything.”
“Donald Trump is taking the U.S. in an extreme direction—attacking freedom of speech, using secret security forces to arrest people in broad daylight, and suppressing institutions and the courts. When a president is this unpredictable and authoritarian, we must, of course, be prepared for anything,” she said.
She noted that the Nobel Committee operates independently and that the Norwegian government is not involved in its decisions, but added: “I’m not sure Trump knows that. We have to be ready for anything from him.”
