Donald Trump has been named the first winner of the newly created Fifa peace prize, claiming \u201cthe world is a safer place now\u201d as he received the award at the draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington DC.<\/p>\n
Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president and one of Trump\u2019s closest sporting allies<\/a>, presented the honour onstage at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, saying Trump had been selected \u201cin recognition of his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is your prize, this is your peace prize,\u201d Infantino said, after Trump took the stage to accept the trophy, a medal and certificate. \u201cThere is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Fifa says the prize is for \u201cindividuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions\u201d. The governing body has not disclosed details of the selection process, although a Guardian investigation found that a new \u201csocial responsibility\u201d committee chaired by the controversial Myanmar tycoon Zaw Zaw will propose the process<\/a> for future awards.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Accepting the award, Trump called it \u201cone of the great honours of my life\u201d, before claiming to have \u201csaved millions and millions of lives \u2013 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.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to praise Infantino for \u201csetting new records on ticket sales\u201d and said the 2026 tournament would be \u201can event the likes of which maybe the world has never seen\u201d. Trump concluded: \u201cThe world is a safer place now \u2026 we\u2019re the hottest country anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has made questionable claims<\/a> about the number of conflicts he has \u201cended\u201d as well as launching a number of military actions, some with controversial justification<\/a> \u2013 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Among the wars Trump claims to have \u201cended\u201d 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.<\/p>\n Donald Trump speaks to the attendees at the World Cup draw. Photograph: ANP\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Trump also claims to have ended the Israel\u2013Iran war, a 12-day conflict in which the US was an active participant on Israel\u2019s side, launching its own long-range airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s involvement was particularly meaningful.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s actions closer to home also contradict his claims to be a peacemaker, not least his use of deadly military strikes against small boats in the Caribbean on the basis of dubious legal claims regarding threats posed by \u201cnarco terrorists\u201d against the US that has also seen him threaten Venezuela.<\/p>\n The decision to give Trump the inaugural Fifa honour is likely to intensify scrutiny of the organisation\u2019s close alignment with his political orbit. Trump has regularly used sporting platforms to bolster his image abroad and has aggressively campaigned for the Nobel laureate. After this year\u2019s award went to the Venezuelan opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado<\/a>, senior Republicans denounced the decision<\/a> as \u201cpolitics over peace\u201d, while the US House speaker, Mike Johnson, vowed to help marshal a global nomination<\/a> for Trump next year.<\/p>\n