'They still haven't given me one': Trump jokes after praising US for winning most Nobel Prizes

KEYSTONE, SOUTH DAKOTA: President Donald Trump joked that he still had not received a Nobel Prize despite claiming to have "settled seven or eight wars" as he praised the United States' achievements during a patriotic speech at Mount Rushmore on Thursday, July 3.

Speaking ahead of the nation's 250th Independence Day celebrations, Trump described America as the global leader in innovation, sports, science, culture and military strength. The remarks came as he celebrated what he called the country's unmatched contributions to the modern world.

Trump hails American innovation before joking about missing Nobel Prize

Trump highlighted America's leadership in innovation, science, culture and sports, crediting the country with pioneering inventions from the telephone and airplane to the internet, as well as achievements including mapping the human genome, harnessing nuclear energy and landing astronauts on the Moon.

Trump also highlighted America's cultural and sporting influence, saying, "Americans filled the airwaves of the planet with our music and our culture. We invented baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, NASCAR, and the Rodeos of the West."

Listing what he described as American leadership across multiple fields, Trump said, "Americans have won the most Olympic medals of any country in the world by far, the most Nobel Prizes..." He then paused to joke about his own record. "Well, they haven't given me one. Seven eight wars, I still haven't gotten it. That's okay."

Trump went on to say the United States also holds "the most world records," publishes "by far the most patents," produces "the best movies," makes "the best music," and raises "the greatest entertainers and strongest athletes the world has ever seen."

The president also credited his administration's economic policies for attracting investment into the country. "We built the biggest and most dynamic economy... with, as of last week, 19.2 trillion dollars pouring into the United States from all over the world," Trump said. 

Nobel Prize remarks follow recurring political jokes and public debate

Trump's comments add to a series of public references he has made about the Nobel Peace Prize in recent months.

In February, while hosting the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington, DC, Trump quipped that he thought Norway was about to announce he had won the award before adding, "I don't care about the Nobel Prize. I care about saving lives."

The subject resurfaced this week after Hunter Biden, posted a satirical message on social media. "I am officially nominating Donald J Trump  for the Nobel Peace Prize," Hunter Biden wrote. "No President in History has ended the same war so many times."

He added that Trump had "ended the war with Iran at least 38 times," before concluding, "No President has ever done this before. It's a record worthy of the Nobel committee's recognition."

Trump has received Nobel Peace Prize nominations but has never won the award. In January, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal during a meeting in Washington