‘Never Seen Anyone So Crazy for the Nobel’: Kailash Satyarthi Takes Swipe at Donald Trump

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi used a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival to criticise reports that the honour had been “offered” to Donald Trump. Satyarthi said the development was shocking and used his own experience with the Nobel Peace Prize to underline what he saw as its real moral purpose.

The comments came during the launch of Satyarthi’s book, Karuna: The Power of Compassion, where the session turned sharp when the discussion shifted to the controversy. Satyarthi said he felt stunned by the news and remarked with visible disbelief, "God, I've never seen any person in my life who was so crazy for the Nobel Prize."

Nobel Peace Prize controversy and non-transferable honour

Satyarthi referred to reports that Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado had "presented" her Peace Prize to former US President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House. Trump publicly praised the gesture, while coverage described the move as a symbolic passing of the Nobel Peace Prize medal.

The Nobel Institute, however, clarified soon after that the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred between people. It stressed that the honour remains with the original laureate, even if a medal changes hands. Echoing this, Satyarthi told the audience, "It has been reported in the press that the Nobel Committee said very clearly that it is not transferable," which drew laughter and claps.

Nobel Peace Prize, moral authority and Indian context

By highlighting the Nobel Committee’s stance, Satyarthi argued that the prize is meant to represent moral authority, not serve as political endorsement. The Jaipur audience responded strongly, sensing the contrast between the official rules and the political optics around Trump. Satyarthi used that moment to turn the focus towards how he had treated his own Nobel Peace Prize.

He recalled receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 and the events that followed in India. Then President Pranab Mukherjee invited Satyarthi to Rashtrapati Bhavan after the announcement. "He said, you are the first Indian-born Indian to bring the Peace Medal to the land of India," Satyarthi told the gathering, describing the significance of that meeting.

Nobel Peace Prize medal protocol for Satyarthi

Satyarthi said he did not want the medal to remain a purely personal object and believed it should belong symbolically to the people of India. When officials said there was no existing protocol to hand a Nobel Peace Prize medal to the nation, Satyarthi suggested placing it at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, as a national trust.

After discussions, a new procedure was created, allowing the medal to be formally entrusted to the President. The Nobel Peace Prize medal was then placed in the custody of Rashtrapati Bhavan on behalf of the country. For Satyarthi, this arrangement reflected what the Nobel Peace Prize should stand for in public life, rather than political bargaining.

The session closed on a remark by novelist Amish Tripathi, who was moderating the conversation. Tripathi told the audience, "There are some whose honour is raised because the prize is given to them. And there are some who raise the honour of the prize when it is given to them." The line framed the debate over the Nobel Peace Prize and left the crowd reflecting on how laureates choose to carry the award.