When U.S. President Donald Trump phoned Norway's finance minister last month to discuss tariffs, he also told him he wanted the Nobel Peace Prize, a report said Thursday.
Several countries, including Israel, Pakistan and Cambodia, have nominated Trump for brokering peace agreements or cease-fires, and he has said he deserves the Norwegian-bestowed accolade that four White House predecessors received.
"Out of the blue, while Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg was walking down the street in Oslo, Donald Trump called," the Norwegian business daily Dagens Naeringsliv reported, citing unnamed sources.
"He wanted the Nobel Prize – and to discuss tariffs," the report said.
Trump has openly and repeatedly sought the world's most prestigious award, however unlikely many observers think it is that the Norwegian committee would bestow the honor on the divisive president.
In a comment to Reuters, Stoltenberg said the call was to discuss tariffs and economic cooperation ahead of Trump's call with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Stoere.
"I will not go into further detail about the content of the conversation," he added.
Several White House officials, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were on the call, Stoltenberg added.
The White House and the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not reply to requests for comment.
With hundreds of candidates nominated each year, laureates are chosen by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, whose five members are appointed by Norway's parliament according to the will of Swedish 19th-century industrialist Alfred Nobel.
The announcement comes in October in Oslo.
The Norwegian newspaper said it was not the first time Trump had brought up the prize in conversation with Stoltenberg, a former secretary-general of the NATO military alliance.
The White House on July 31 announced a 15% tariff on imports from Norway, the same as the European Union.
Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that Norway and the United States were still in talks regarding the tariffs.
