President Donald Trump finally won the peace prize he so dearly coveted — just not from the organization he had hoped for.
“This is your prize – this is your peace prize!” Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, gushed as Trump took the stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
As he received the award on Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw, Trump, the first winner of the new FIFA Peace Prize, said, “The world is a safer place now.”
Highlights
- Donald Trump received the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize at the 2026 World Cup draw, a surprise given FIFA's usual political neutrality.
- FIFA president Gianni Infantino awarded Trump a golden globe trophy and a medal, which Trump proudly wore immediately.
- The prize came shortly after a deadly airstrike by the Trump administration, sparking controversy over the award's timing.
- Social media users flooded X with memes mocking Trump’s peace prize, comparing it to a participation trophy and ridiculing FIFA.
Trump won the first FIFA Peace Prize
Image credits: Hector Vivas/Getty Images
The trophy design was a golden globe standing above five golden hands with the words “Donald J Trump” illuminated in capital letters. Along with the trophy, Infantino also awarded Trump a medal. “There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go,” he said.
Trump did not wait for Infantino as he put the medal around his own neck and called it “one of the greatest honors” of his life.
The award came less than a day after the Trump administration carried out another deadly air strike in the Caribbean. The prize marks a departure from the traditionally politically neutral stance that FIFA has held.
Image credits: Sam Corum/Getty Images
If there’s one community that enjoyed the prize more than Trump, it was X users, who flooded the social media platform with memes and jokes.
One meme included Trump with The Simpsons characters Krusty the Clown and Lisa Simpson with Trump, captioned, “I don’t like you. I never liked you. The only reason I gave you that ‘Peace Prize’ is because no one else would.”
Image credits: X
One user posted a picture of the trophy’s globe being held by hands, captioned, “The trophy FIFA is giving Trump is appropriate because it looks like groping hands.”
Another interpreted the trophy as one showing “his twisted little hands dragging the entire planet into hell.”
Social media users mocked Trump getting the peace prize
Image credits: Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images
An X user edited the photo of Trump receiving the medal to give Trump googly eyes and a big smile, captioned, “The look when Trump got the award for the FIFA award, lmaooo.”
One user shared an edited image of a medal that says, “FIFA Fascist Award, Idiot Felon Award.”
Another user joked, “Now, two more bodies want to award Trump — The World Clown Association and the International Con Men Congress — for having reached the highest position of power from among their ranks.”
Yet another posted a GIF, calling Trump “Toddler in chief.”
Image credits: X
Democrats also chimed in, saying, “Trump couldn’t win a Nobel Peace Prize so FIFA made one up for him.” Another X user joked, “Awww. Cute. They gave the President a participation trophy.”
‘Trump couldn’t win a Nobel Peace Prize so FIFA made one up for him,’ one X user mocked
Image credits: X
One user referenced the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, noting “there’s a book about this btw,” with an attached photo of the book cover with a pig in a military-style uniform.
In a two-part edited meme, one user wrote, “You think it was a good idea for FIFA to create a fake trophy and medal for the orange baby? Trumo [sic] is a global laughingstock 😂.”
Image credits: X
The first part of the meme showed Trump’s face on the body of a toddler, sitting and crying, saying, “I want my peace prize,” and the second shows someone putting a pacifier in the Trump-faced toddler’s mouth while he wears a trophy that says, “FIFA peace prize” and “powered by TEMU” on it.
One user criticized Giovanni for giving Trump the prize, saying, “FIFA World Cup draw delayed as Gianni Infantino’s tongue remains lodged in Donald Trump’s a**hole.”
Celebrities and public personalities also took to X to criticize the move. “Giving Donald Trump a prize for peace is like giving Luis Suarez a prize for not biting people’s ears off,” football journalist Zach Lowy wrote online.
The Uruguayan forward, Suarez, has been caught up in at least three biting incidents on the pitch.
Craig Mokhiber, a former UN official, told Al Jazeera that the “vulgar” prize given to Trump must be rescinded.
“FIFA rules do not allow play on a muddy pitch. They certainly shouldn’t play on a bloody pitch. But that’s precisely where Infantino is leading FIFA,” he said.