Stephen Colbert Mocks Trump’s Threat to ‘Ruin Peace’ After Nobel Snub Like He ‘Ruined Reality’

Stephen Colbert mocked President Donald Trump’s quip to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace” after not winning the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, warning that the president was going to “ruin peace” like he “ruined reality.”

The message from Trump to Støre on Monday came after the prime minister reached out to him, protesting tariff threats over European resistance to acquiring Greenland. In his reply, the president explicitly tied his long-running demand that Denmark relinquish control of Greenland to his personal resentment over being denied the Nobel Peace Prize. He argued that Denmark has no legitimate claim to the territory and, without offering evidence, claimed Copenhagen would be unable to defend Greenland from Russia or China.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” Trump wrote, repeating his assertion that “the world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee operates independently of any government body, and entries for the 2025 nominees ended before the president took office. The laureate for last year was Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who gifted Trump the medal last week.

Still, Colbert had plenty to say on the message on Tuesday night’s episode of The Late Show, as he returned to air after a holiday weekend:

He didn’t get the Nobel Peace prize, so now he’s going to ruin peace. Same way he didn’t get an Emmy for his reality show, so he ruined reality. Just give him the prize. Just give him the thing. Is it worth it? Just give him whatever he wants.

After Trump received the gifted medal from Machado, fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel offered the president one of his television awards.

Watch above via CBS.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!