Former President Donald Trump, who has long argued that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, received a newly created honor during the World Cup Draw — the FIFA Peace Prize. Earlier this year, Trump repeatedly claimed that his leadership merited global recognition for peace efforts, though the Nobel committee ultimately awarded the prize to María Corina Machado. At the ceremony, Trump appeared with the First Lady and described receiving the FIFA honor as “one of the great moments of my life,” praising it as long-overdue validation of his global influence.

The event took place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented Trump with a gold medal. Trump immediately placed it around his neck as cameras captured him standing proudly beside the award. According to FIFA, the Peace Prize was created to celebrate individuals whose actions have “extraordinarily advanced peace and unity across the world,” positioning Trump as a major figure in global conflict reduction as the 2026 World Cup approaches.

Throughout his political career, Trump has insisted his diplomatic approach prevented conflicts and ended others. He has publicly reminded world leaders — including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — that he believes he has not received proper recognition. “They’ll never give me a Nobel Peace Prize,” Trump once said. “I deserve it, but they’ll never give it to me.” He repeated similar claims at a summit with Ukrainian and European leaders, asserting that his administration “ended six wars” without relying on temporary ceasefires.

Recently, Trump doubled down on this narrative by renaming the Institute of Peace to the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace, framing it as confirmation of his self-proclaimed role as the “president of peace.” Whether the FIFA Peace Prize becomes a significant global honor remains to be seen, but for Trump, it marks a symbolic victory in his long-running pursuit of acknowledgment on the world stage.