Dec 6 2025, 09:42 AM, updated 3w ago
Donald Trump has been named the first winner of the newly created Fifa peace prize, claiming “the world is a safer place now” as he received the award at the draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington DC.
Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president and one of Trump’s closest sporting allies, presented the honour onstage at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, saying Trump had been selected “in recognition of his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world”.
“This is your prize, this is your peace prize,” Infantino said, after Trump took the stage to accept the trophy, a medal and certificate. “There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.”
Fifa says the prize is for “individuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions”. The governing body has not disclosed details of the selection process, although a Guardian investigation found that a new “social responsibility” committee chaired by the controversial Myanmar tycoon Zaw Zaw will propose the process for future awards.
Trump, who has long sought international validation, attended the ceremony on Friday and accepted the award in front of Fifa officials, diplomats and invited guests.
Accepting the award, Trump called it “one of the great honours of my life”, before claiming to have “saved millions and millions of lives – the Congo is an example, over 10 million people killed and it was heading for another 10 million very quickly. India and Pakistan, so many different wars we were able to end, in some cases just before they started.”
He went on to praise Infantino for “setting new records on ticket sales” and said the 2026 tournament would be “an event the likes of which maybe the world has never seen”. Trump concluded: “The world is a safer place now … we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
Trump has made questionable claims about the number of conflicts he has “ended” as well as launching a number of military actions, some with controversial justification – even as he has insisted he should be awarded the Nobel peace prize. His interventions as a self-professed peacemaker in the Gaza conflict and in the war in Ukraine have also been heavily criticised for being one-sided and ineffective.
Among the wars Trump claims to have “ended” is Gaza, where the two-year-long conflict, albeit at a lower level, is still continuing, including regular Israeli strikes and the continued occupation of a substantial area of the ruined coastal strip.
Trump also claims to have ended the Israel-Iran war, a 12-day conflict in which the US was an active participant on Israel’s side, launching its own long-range airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
The US president has also professed to playing a significant role in ending a brief flare-up in long-running tensions between India and Pakistan in May, although India has denied Trump’s involvement was particularly meaningful.
Trump, or the US at least, appears to have had a more significant role in mediating conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Thailand and Cambodia. Claims to have ended fighting between Rwandan backed rebels and the DRC have been confounded by continuing clashes. His peacemaking claims about Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia are best described as imaginary, there being no active conflicts.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/d...d-cup-infantino
Trump awarded inaugural Fifa peace prize
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