'Obama got award for nothing’: Trump criticises Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize

Just hours before the Nobel Peace Prize was to be announced, Donald Trump criticised former US President Barack Obama’s 2009 Nobel win, arguing that Obama had received the award despite “doing nothing” and having “destroyed the country.” Trump also said Obama had not been a good president.

As the world waited with bated breath for the announcement of the winner of the most highly coveted of all the Nobel prizes, the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, US President Donald Trump, who has been gunning for the prestigious award, lashed out at former US President Barack Obama who had been honoured with the Peace Prize in the first eight months of his first term.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, President Trump said that though he had secured peace in Gaza and ended "eight wars", he did not do it for an award.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do, really, but I know this: That nobody in history has solved eight wars in a period of nine months, and I’ve stopped eight wars. So that’s never happened before, but they’ll have to do what they do. Whatever they do is fine. I know this: I didn’t do it for that. I did it because I saved a lot of lives,” he said.

He also took a swipe at President Barrack Obama, who got the coveted Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, soon after taking charge of the top job in America and stated, “He got a prize for doing nothing... He got elected, and they gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country... Obama was not a good President."

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was much awaited as it has stirred intense speculation with President Trump emerging as a frontrunner and, also pushing for it aggressively. Several nations like Israel, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Thailand, Armenia and Cambodia, are said to have nominated the US President, crediting Trump with mediating several protracted conflicts.

Finally, the award went to Venezuela’s María Corina Machado for her relentless effort to bring opposition parties together.

The announcement was made at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) in Oslo on Friday by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Significantly, the prestigious award has drawn 338 nominations this year, including 94 organisations and 244 people from different walks of life.

The official announcement was made by Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee, at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.

The committee consisted of Norwegian human rights advocate Jorgen Watne Frydnes, foreign policy scholar Asle Toje, former Acting Prime Minister of Norway Anne Enger, former Norwegian Minister of Education Kristin Clemet, and former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Gry Larsen.