Did the Nobel Peace Prize Committee permanently disqualify Donald Trump from ever receiving the prize and was this news announced via a press release? No, that's not true: A fake press release using the the logo of Associated Press and mentioning a defunct website named swisstimes.org originated on the X account of a parody website. There were no media announcements about any such disqualification and the organization behind the prize does not communicate about current nominations.
The fake press release appeared in a post on X (archived here) where it was published on September 25, 2025 with a comment that read:
BREAKING NEWS: Nobel Prize committee announces that
@realDonaldTrump
has been permanently disqualified from all future awards due to his renaming US Defense Dept "Department of War." #TrumpisaNationalDisgrace #NobelPeacePrize #gwb5
This is what the image in the post looked like:
(Image source: image downloaded from x.com post by @TheAmericaStore.)
The text in the image read:
AP
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hanz Zeemer
Phone: +41 23 465 2874
Email: [email protected]
NPC BARRS TRUMP ACCOLADE
Sept. 25, 2025
STOCKHOLM (AP) - In an unprecedented move that has world leader praising the prestigious organization, the Nobel Prize committee announced today that Donald J. Trump is permanently disqualified from future awards after his controversial comments in his UN speech on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025 as well as his decision to rename the U.S. Department of Defense as the "Department of War," which the committee deemed a "grave breach of historical gravitas and semantic decorum"
The committee's terse statement, issued under embargo until now, asserted that "the integrity of the Nobel tradition cannot coexist with a willful rebranding of global defense institutions into instruments of infringement," and added that even past laurels remain untouched-but "moving forward, no Prizes shall be awarded." The decision, the committee said, is final
###
gwbs
However the account that posted the image (archived here) has a bio that reads:
Pokes fun at Politics & Life in the USA (parody site, duh). Irreverent T's, mugs & novelty gifts. #Resist #Resistance #TrumpMustGo #VOTE #LGBTQ #FreeLuigi #gwb5
The website swisstimes.org has been defunct for years according to snapshots made over the years by the Internet Archive. It is also unclear why such a website would use the logo of the Associated Press on a press release.
The phrase "grave breach of historical gravitas and semantic decorum" did not appear on the website of Associated Press according to Google (archived here) and the website's own search page (archived here).
The nominations process is explained on the Nobel Prize website (archived here). The frequently asked questions page (archived here), in reply to the question "Can I find out who has been nominated for a Nobel Prize?" reads:
Nominations can only be made public at least 50 years after the nomination has taken place - so nominations for this year's Nobel Prizes are a closely guarded secret. Any rumours regarding recent nominees are either just rumour, or someone among the invited nominators has leaked information. Since the nominations are kept secret for at least 50 years, you'll have to wait until then to find out.
(Source: screenshot of nobelprize.org by Lead Stories)
It has been reported (archived here) that the governments of several countries -- including Rwanda, Israel, Gabon, Azerbaijan, and Cambodia -- nominated Trump for the peace prize.
