US President Donald Trump attacked Norway at a campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday, 25 October, saying Norwegian immigrants are not welcome in the United States because the country’s Nobel Committee has not awarded him the Peace Prize. Norway’s foreign minister responded on Monday that the committee is independent, and there is no indication that the remarks amount to a new immigration policy.
What happened
Trump made the remarks at a rally in Port Huron, a week before the US midterm elections on 3 November. According to Reuters, he linked his view of Norwegian immigration directly to the Nobel Peace Prize, telling the crowd he would welcome immigrants from some countries but not from Norway ‘because I didn’t get the Nobel Prize … So I don’t want anybody from Norway.’
He also used vulgar language about the country itself, saying: ‘Frankly, Norway sucks. Norway has become a shithouse country, actually.’ The wording is reported in the same terms by Reuters, the New Indian Express and MercoPress, with minor spelling differences between outlets.
What Trump said, in his words
The rally comments were the sharpest in a series of complaints from Trump about the prize. Earlier in October, he had called the failure to give him the award an ‘indelible stain’ on Norway, Reuters reported, and he has previously described the committee’s choice as ‘a disgraceful and embarrassing decision’.
Trump also tied the remarks to immigration more broadly, attributing recent unrest in France to immigration. That context matters because the Norway comments were not a standalone policy speech: they came inside a campaign rally argument about who should be welcomed into the United States. Readers following the France protests will recognise the same immigration theme running through that weekend’s events.
The president has made no secret of wanting the prize since returning to the White House in January 2025. This year’s award went to South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former International Criminal Court judge and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Last year’s prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose return to Venezuela after nearly a year in exile was itself a major story — and Trump had also expressed anger then at not being recognised.
Norway’s response: the committee is independent
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide answered the remarks on Monday, telling national broadcaster NRK that the committee’s independence is not in doubt.
‘He knows very well that the Nobel Committee is independent. We have reminded him of that, in case anyone is wondering — and that is still the case,’ Eide said.
That independence is the key institutional point the rally rhetoric leaves out. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is based in Oslo and awards the Peace Prize, but it decides independently of the Norwegian government. A president’s displeasure with its choice, however strongly expressed, does not give him a say in its decisions — and Norway’s government cannot overrule them either.
Reuters noted that, at the time of its report, Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a representative for the Nobel Committee had not immediately returned requests for comment outside regular office hours. Eide’s Monday comments to NRK filled that gap.
Why the prize matters so much to Trump
Trump’s grievance is not new, but the Port Huron rally escalated both its language and its target: from criticising the committee’s choice to criticising the country and its would-be emigrants.
The language also has a history. In 2018, during his first term, Trump was heavily criticised for using similar vulgar language about Haiti and several African countries. Reuters noted he has now applied the same kind of term to Haiti, Libya, Somalia and Yemen — and, with Sunday’s remarks, to Norway.
The contrast with Norway’s own standing is striking. Reuters pointed out that Norway is among the highest-income countries in the world as measured by GDP per capita, according to International Monetary Fund data, and that its sovereign wealth fund posted a record profit of 1.75 trillion Norwegian crowns ($184.3 billion) for the first half of 2026. That context does not soften the political row, but it does show how far the rally language sits from Norway’s economic position.
What does not change — at least for now
The most important practical point for readers is what has not happened: there was no indication, in any of the three reports, that the Trump administration was adopting a new official policy on Norwegian immigrants.
A rally remark is not an executive order, a proclamation or a change to visa rules. Until and unless the administration announces such a step, Norwegian citizens’ ability to travel to, work in or emigrate to the United States is governed by the existing rules, not by a campaign speech. That distinction is worth stating plainly, because headlines alone can easily leave the opposite impression.
The political timing is equally clear. The rally took place in Michigan, a battleground state, eight days before the midterms — the same campaign season in which Barack Obama campaigned in Ohio and Michigan for Democratic candidates. Trump’s Norway remarks were, in that sense, part of a midterm campaign message about immigration, not a foreign-policy announcement.
Timeline
- January 2025: Trump returns to the White House and makes no secret of his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 2018 (first term): Trump is heavily criticised for using similar vulgar language about Haiti and several African countries.
- 2025: The Nobel Peace Prize goes to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado; Trump expresses anger at not being recognised.
- 9 October 2026: The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the 2026 Peace Prize to South African jurist Navi Pillay.
- Early October 2026: Trump calls the failure to give him the prize an ‘indelible stain’ on Norway.
- Sunday 25 October 2026: At a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, Trump says Norwegian immigrants are not welcome because he did not get the Nobel Prize.
- Monday 26 October 2026: Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide tells NRK the Nobel Committee is independent.
Why it matters
First, it shows how personally Trump takes the Nobel question — personally enough to turn a prize decision into a judgment on an entire country and its people. Second, it tests the US–Norway relationship: Norway is a NATO ally, and public insults from an American president, even at a campaign rally, carry diplomatic weight that private disagreement does not. Third, it illustrates a campaign tactic: folding a personal grievance into a broader immigration argument days before an election, so that a story about a prize becomes a story about who belongs in America.
Whether the row fades after the midterms or hardens into policy will depend on what the administration does next — and so far, it has announced nothing.
FAQs
Q: Did Trump ban Norwegian immigrants? A: No. He said at a rally that he does not want anybody from Norway, because he did not get the Nobel Prize. There is no indication of a new official policy, executive order or visa change arising from the remarks.
Q: Who won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize? A: South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former International Criminal Court judge and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Q: Is the Nobel Committee part of the Norwegian government? A: No. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is based in Oslo and awards the Peace Prize independently. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stressed on 26 October that the committee is independent and that Norway has already explained this to Trump.
Q: Why is Trump angry about the prize? A: He has openly wanted the Peace Prize since returning to the White House in January 2025, and has criticised the committee’s choices in both 2025, when it went to María Corina Machado, and 2026, when it went to Navi Pillay.
Q: Has Trump used this kind of language before? A: Yes. In 2018, during his first term, he was heavily criticised for using similar vulgar expressions about Haiti and several African countries, and Reuters notes he has applied the same kind of term to Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Q: When are the US midterm elections? A: 3 November 2026. The Port Huron rally took place eight days earlier, on 25 October.
Related coverage
Read more in the US News section, including the France protests that Trump cited in his immigration remarks, Barack Obama’s campaigning in Ohio and Michigan in the same midterm season, and María Corina Machado’s return to Venezuela after nearly a year in exile.