Trump Says He Was Robbed Of Nobel Peace Prize That Went To Ethiopian P. M. Abiy Ahmed

At an Ohio rally last week, President Donald Trump told crowds he was robbed of the Nobel Peace Prize, recently awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, claiming he deserved it more.

Trump told crowds he was responsible for Abiy’s achievements in Ethiopia, but that he wasn’t being recognized for it. “I made a deal, I saved a country… I said, ‘What, did I have something do with it?’ Yeah, but you know, that’s the way it is.”

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Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in ending a border conflict with Eritrea in 2018. The border conflict lasted between 1998 and 2000 when a ceasefire was signed. However, the two nations were technically still at war until 2018 when a peace deal between Abiy and Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki was signed. Thousands of lives were lost, families were separated for over twenty years, and trade on the border was frozen.

Trump told the crowds at the Ohio rally, “As long as we know, that’s all that matters … I saved a big war, I’ve saved a couple of them.”

According to the BBC, the United State’s involvement to ending the dispute was minimal. BBC’s former Ethiopia correspondent, Emmanuel Igunza attributed the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as key players in the negotiations between Ethiopia and Eritrea. 

The award was given to Abiy on October 11. It is unclear why Trump decided to talk about the award now.

However, this is not the first time he has complained about not receiving it, noting multiple times that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, has been a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. “They gave it to Obama. He didn’t even know what he got it for. He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize. He said, ‘Oh, what did I get it for?’” Trump said in February 2019.