'It wasn’t just dynamite but big guns': Sanjeev Sanyal flags Nobel’s roots while Trump seeks prize
Trump’s fixation on the Nobel has persisted for years, fueled in part by comparisons with Barack Obama’s 2009 win.
- Jun 24, 2025,
- Updated Jun 24, 2025 9:43 AM IST
As Donald Trump reignites his campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize, economist Sanjeev Sanyal has raised eyebrows by pointing to the award’s little-discussed financial origins.
Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, posted on X: “The Nobel Prize for Peace is funded by a family fortune that was made by selling armaments and explosives to all sides in the 19th & 20th century.”
He elaborated further: “First to the Russians for the Crimean War, then the British and the French, and of course to ‘neutral’ Sweden. It wasn’t just ‘dynamite’ but big guns. Alfred Nobel’s company still exists — Bofors.”
His post lands just as U.S. President has once again taken to social media, lamenting his continued absence from the list of Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Trump claimed credit for multiple global de-escalations, including India-Pakistan, Serbia-Kosovo, and a new treaty between Congo and Rwanda. “I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize, no matter what I do,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, referencing the prize six times.
Pakistan recently nominated Trump for the 2026 award, citing his “pivotal leadership” in resolving the crisis with India.
New Delhi, however, attributes the ceasefire to direct military-level negotiations, not U.S. diplomacy.
Trump’s fixation on the Nobel has persisted for years, fueled in part by comparisons with Barack Obama’s 2009 win. At a recent meeting, he remarked: “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize… I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”
As Donald Trump reignites his campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize, economist Sanjeev Sanyal has raised eyebrows by pointing to the award’s little-discussed financial origins.
Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, posted on X: “The Nobel Prize for Peace is funded by a family fortune that was made by selling armaments and explosives to all sides in the 19th & 20th century.”
He elaborated further: “First to the Russians for the Crimean War, then the British and the French, and of course to ‘neutral’ Sweden. It wasn’t just ‘dynamite’ but big guns. Alfred Nobel’s company still exists — Bofors.”
His post lands just as U.S. President has once again taken to social media, lamenting his continued absence from the list of Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Trump claimed credit for multiple global de-escalations, including India-Pakistan, Serbia-Kosovo, and a new treaty between Congo and Rwanda. “I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize, no matter what I do,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, referencing the prize six times.
Pakistan recently nominated Trump for the 2026 award, citing his “pivotal leadership” in resolving the crisis with India.
New Delhi, however, attributes the ceasefire to direct military-level negotiations, not U.S. diplomacy.
Trump’s fixation on the Nobel has persisted for years, fueled in part by comparisons with Barack Obama’s 2009 win. At a recent meeting, he remarked: “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize… I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”