Trump, "I'm not in love with Norway. Frankly, Norway sucks. Norway has become a sh*thouse country" My view: That is the language of a president throwing a tantrum because Norway didn’t give him the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by an independent committee, but Trump’s response is to insult an entire country as though it personally owes him a medal. It is crude, petty and revealing. And the comparison makes his outburst look even more absurd. In 2024, Norway’s gross government debt was about $62,600 per person, adjusted for purchasing power. America’s was about $106,400. Norway gives its residents universal healthcare coverage, while the US spends around $14,885 per person on healthcare and still doesn’t guarantee coverage to everyone. Public universities in Norway are tuition-free for Norwegian and EU/EEA students; in the US, students commonly face substantial tuition bills. And Norway has built an enormous sovereign wealth fund, worth 21.3 trillion kroner at the end of 2025, investing the country’s oil wealth for future generations. Norway isn’t perfect, and its system has costs and trade-offs. But on public finances, healthcare access, university costs and saving national wealth, it has made choices the United States could learn from. Trump’s insult sounds less like a serious judgement of Norway than envy and wounded vanity: a president attacking a country that has managed to provide things America still struggles to deliver for its own people.