Trump Receives Inaugural FIFA Peace Prize At Kennedy Center Ceremony
President Donald Trump received the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize on Friday, marking the first time the global soccer organization has issued the award. The Trump War Room account announced the news on X with a video showing the trophy and wrote that Trump had been honored “for ending nearly nine wars and for his endless pursuit of peace around the globe.”
The video featured Trump with multiple world leaders following a year of foreign policy accomplishments.
Fox News reported the award was presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., during the World Cup final draw.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino personally presented Trump with the trophy, which displayed golden hands holding a soccer ball. Trump was also given a medal, which he placed around his neck immediately after accepting it.
A certificate stated the FIFA Peace Prize is presented annually to an individual who advances peace and unity through leadership and action. Trump noted during the presentation, “This is truly one of the great honors of my life.”
He added that he and Infantino discussed efforts they believed saved “millions and millions of lives.”
Trump also highlighted the wars he said were ended during his presidency and the conflicts he said were prevented.
In March, Trump signed an executive order creating the task force for the World Cup tournament shared by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Ukraine agreed to the U.S. peace proposal with only “minor details” remaining to be resolved, a U.S. official told CBS News in November. Rustem Umerov, a senior Ukrainian national security official, appeared to confirm the development, writing on X that Kyiv had reached an understanding on the “core terms” of the American plan during recent discussions in Geneva.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to travel to the White House later to finalize the agreement.
Separately, the United States and Russia held undisclosed talks in Abu Dhabi on last month, according to reports from Reuters and the Financial Times, as the Trump administration works to sustain momentum behind its evolving peace initiative. Those discussions are expected to continue on Tuesday, even as the conflict in Ukraine persists, Newsweek reported.
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meeting with a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi as part of ongoing discussions over the proposed Ukraine peace plan. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate (GUR), is also in Abu Dhabi at the same time, according to the Financial Times.
The original 28-point U.S. proposal, which Russia viewed favorably, was “refined” following U.S.–Ukraine talks in Geneva on Sunday to address concerns from Kyiv that the initial draft tilted too far toward Moscow and crossed several of Ukraine’s red lines. The most recent version of the plan under negotiation contains 19 points.
The diplomatic activity came amid a surge of fighting on the ground. Ukrainian officials reported intense Russian strikes overnight into Tuesday, involving 460 drones and 22 missiles, resulting in multiple civilian deaths and dozens of injuries, including in Kyiv. Russia, in turn, said a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on its territory had caused additional civilian casualties, the outlet added.
Romania, a NATO member, said it detected at least two Russian drones that breached its airspace during Moscow’s latest large-scale aerial attack on Ukraine, prompting the country to scramble fighter jets in response.
European allies, who were dissatisfied with President Trump’s initial peace proposal — a plan they were not involved in drafting — developed their own counter-proposal. They stated that no final framework affecting either the European Union or NATO could be agreed to without the consent of all member states. Russia rejected the European plan as unacceptable.
