FIFA Awards Trump Peace Prize Clearly Created Just For Him
During the 2026 World Cup draw on Friday, FIFA awarded President Donald Trump its first-ever “FIFA Peace Prize” — a gold medal and large trophy that are absolutely, totally not a consolation prize after he lost out on the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino lavished praise on Trump while handing over the award “in recognition of his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world.”
A video that played before Trump took the stage described him as “a dynamic leader who has engaged in diplomatic efforts that created opportunities for dialog, de-escalation and stability, and who has championed the unifying power of football on the world stage.”
Earlier in the day, when reporters asked about the upcoming award, the president repeated a version of his misleading claim, saying he has settled “eight wars.”
Trump gave a short acceptance speech after he was awarded FIFA’s obsequious new award, calling it “one of the great honours” of his life before pivoting to ticket sales for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, which he claimed are moving well.
“The numbers are beyond any numbers,” the president observed.
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Trump claims Machado called him afterward and said she accepted the prize in Trump’s honour because he was the one who “really deserved it.”
Infantino and Trump are close allies. So close, even, that in July, Infantino let Trump keep the Club World Cup’s 24-karat-gold-plated trophy, forcing FIFA to give a replica to the tournament’s actual winning team.
Trump’s acceptance of a peace prize coincides with rising furor over actions being looked at as a potential war crime carried out by his administration during an attack on alleged drug smugglers in September.
The president also recently pardoned a former Honduran president who had been sentenced to decades in prison for swamping the United States with hundreds of tons of cocaine.