After Failing to Win Nobel, Trump Is Awarded FIFA’s Newly-Created “Peace Prize”

On Friday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino awarded President Donald Trump the first ever “FIFA Peace Prize,” an award that was created just weeks after Trump failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Infantino described Trump as his “close friend” during the ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which took place during the FIFA World Cup draw.

“This is your prize, this is your peace prize,” he told Trump, awarding him a trophy, a certificate, and a medal.

“This is truly one of the great honors of my life,” Trump said in accepting the award.

For several weeks after the award was announced in early November, commentators have speculated that the award was a sham and would be going to Trump, given his friendship with Infantino and his visible dismay at having lost the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the international soccer organization’s website, the FIFA peace prize is granted to “individuals who, through their unwavering commitment and their special actions, have helped to unite people all over the world in peace and consequently deserve a special and unique recognition.”

The award came the same week that the U.S. Institute of Peace added Trump’s name to the outside of their building, which now reads, “Donald Trump United States Institute of Peace.”

“President Trump will be remembered by history as the President of Peace. It’s time our State Department display that,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Trump has frequently asserted that he is deserving of a peace prize, claiming that he has helped end multiple wars and military conflicts around the world. In reality, fact-checkers have noted that although Trump has had a hand in numerous temporary ceasefires, he has not “ended wars” or created lasting peace as he’s claimed.

But there are many reasons why Trump may be undeserving of a peace award. Under Trump’s orders, his administration has conducted deadly attacks on civilian boats off the coasts of South America — attacks that fuel tensions with Venezuela and likely amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Trump has also supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu throughout Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, encouraging the prime minister to, in his words, “finish the problem” there.

Trump has deployed hundreds of National Guard troops into U.S. cities to assist with his violent immigration raids, and has threatened to send multiple branches of the military to cities in the future under the auspices of the Insurrection Act, despite no evidence of an insurrection taking place.

The administration has rounded up immigrants in the U.S. at an unprecedented scale, often in unlawful ways, violating people’s due process rights and punishing university students for expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

And Trump has often encouraged violence against dissident voices, including by stating that he wouldn’t “mind so much” if someone shot members of the press at his political rallies, or labeling Democratic lawmakers as “seditious” and threatening “death” as punishment.

FIFA presenting a “peace prize” is a questionable endeavor on its own, given the organization’s willingness to overlook human rights abuses in order to advance its own interests. For example, the organization has selected Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup, despite that country’s documented history of human rights violations, use of child labor, and dangerous working conditions for foreign laborers, among other concerns.

FIFA has also ignored its own rules by refusing to sanction Israel over its genocide of Palestinians. Israel has violated many FIFA statutes, including by playing league matches on occupied land, enforcing systemic racial discrimination, destroying soccer facilities, and killing Palestinian soccer players.