Fact Check: Did Nobel chair say Trump lost Peace Prize for lacking 'courage and integrity'?

WASHINGTON, DC: A post linking President Donald Trump with the chair of the Nobel Prize Committee has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter) since the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize winner on Friday, October 10. 

The post, shared by @AdamJSchwarz, featured a video of a reporter asking Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes about Trump's Nobel Peace Prize campaign.

One of the reasons the post went viral was its caption, which claimed that Frydnes said they only "give the award to people of courage and integrity." But is this true? Let’s find out!

Claim: Nobel chair said they only give the Nobel Peace Prize to people of 'courage and integrity'

In the video included in @AdamJSchwarz’s post, a reporter asked Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes how the campaign by President Donald Trump and his supporters to win the Nobel Peace Prize "affected the deliberations and the thinking" of the committee.

Frydnes replied that the committee "sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates, and that room is filled with both courage and integrity," and that they base their "decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel."

The viral post included a transcript that said the reporter had asked, "Why didn't Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize?" According to it, Nobel Committee chair Frydnes responded, "We only give the award to people of courage and integrity."

Interestingly, while other similar posts have emerged on X, the original post shared by @AdamJSchwarz is no longer accessible, and attempts to view it now appear to be unsuccessful.

Fact Check: Jorgen Watne Frydnes didn't imply Trump lacks 'courage and integrity'

No, the chair of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, did not say that Donald Trump was not chosen because they only "give the award to people of courage and integrity." This was a misinterpretation.

The interaction did happen, but the transcription was wrong. The reporter did ask about Trump and the Nobel Prize, but Frydnes gave a different answer. 

The reporter asked, "US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and he would like to have it. He even said that it would be an insult to the United States if he doesn't get it. What do you, as chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, think of this, and how has this campaign-like activity by the president and his supporters, domestically and internationally, affected the deliberations and the thinking in the committee?"

The Nobel Committee chair replied, "In the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think this committee has seen every type of campaign and media attention. We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year from people wanting to explain what, for them, leads to peace."

"This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates, and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. So we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel," he added. 

@AdamJSchwarz seems to have misinterpreted Frydnes' "This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates, and that room is filled with both courage and integrity" remark. 

The Nobel Committee announced on October 10, 2025, that the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize would go to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for her "tireless work promoting democratic rights."

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