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By Steve Mollman and Emma Marsden
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has revealed what former President Barack Obama said moments after Michelle Obama appeared to take a swipe at President Donald Trump during the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
The exchange, recounted by Clinton during Friday's episode of the Pivot podcast, sheds new light on a moment that drew widespread attention in June after Michelle Obama highlighted her husband's Nobel Peace Prize while listing his accomplishments in office. The remark drew laughter from the crowd and was widely interpreted as a reference to Trump's long-running complaints about not receiving the award.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
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Barack Obama's Response
Clinton said she was seated directly behind Barack Obama during the dedication ceremony when the former first lady began ticking through her husband's achievements.
"Michelle Obama was giving this incredibly clever speech, touting all of Barack's many accomplishments," Clinton recalled.
According to Clinton, the moment that stood out came when Michelle Obama mentioned that her husband had won a Nobel prize.
"And then, of course, you received a Nobel Peace Prize," Clinton recalled her saying.
"I burst into laughter. He started to giggle."
Clinton said she then leaned forward and joked with the former president.
"I poked him in the back and I said, 'Oh my God, I am sure Trump is watching this. He thinks he's now in the third circle of hell.'"
Barack Obama's response, Clinton said, was brief.
"He goes, 'Yeah, I hope he is.' It was great."
...
Why the Moment Drew Attention
During the June 18 opening ceremony, Michelle Obama told her husband: "You were doing the people's work, rescuing our economy, expanding health care, ending a war, ordering the bin Laden raid, saving an auto industry, winning a peace prize." The final line drew applause and laughter from the audience, including Clinton. The moment quickly went viral online, with many observers interpreting it as a reference to Trump's long-running complaints about the Nobel Peace Prize and his belief that he has not received sufficient recognition for his foreign policy achievements.
Trump's Nobel Peace Prize Frustration
Trump has repeatedly argued that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, citing diplomatic agreements and conflict-resolution efforts achieved during his time in office. He has often contrasted his lack of a Nobel Peace Prize with Obama's 2009 award and questioned why Obama received the honor.
In a 2025 Truth Social post, he wrote that he would never receive a Nobel Peace Prize "no matter what I do," citing efforts involving the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Serbia and Kosovo, Egypt and Ethiopia, and the Abraham Accords.
Trump has received Nobel Peace Prize nominations or public backing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Malta Foreign Minister Ian Borg, Pakistan's government, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and several Republican members of Congress.
Among them was Representative Claudia Tenney of New York, who has nominated Trump for the prize multiple times and said he was "instrumental in facilitating the first new peace agreements in the Middle East in almost 30 years," referring to the Abraham Accords.
The White House criticized the Nobel Committee after Machado won the 2025 prize. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said at the time that the committee had placed "politics over peace" by not recognizing Trump.
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After Machado's win, Trump said she had called him and told him he "really deserved it." Months later, Machado presented Trump with her medal during a White House visit, though the Nobel Foundation later emphasized that a Nobel Prize cannot be transferred to another recipient.
At a 2020 campaign rally, Trump mocked Obama's reaction to winning the award, and in 2013 he called for the prize to be rescinded.
Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize less than a year after taking office. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said at the time that it was recognizing his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between nations.
The award generated debate even then, with some critics arguing it came too early in Obama's presidency. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most notable honors associated with his time in office.
Who Was There
The Obama Presidential Center dedication brought together a rare gathering of current and former political leaders.
Attendees included former Presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with former first ladies Jill Biden, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. Former Vice President Kamala Harris also attended.
Celebrities and performers at the event included Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, John Legend, Marc Anthony and Eddie Vedder.
Trump was not present at the ceremony.
Hillary Clinton Criticizes Trump's Gold Redesigns in White House
A clip from the podcast circulating on social media shows Clinton criticizing Trump’s interior design choices at the White House.
“When I was in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein, I had meetings in some of his palaces and they were quite reminiscent of what we are seeing in our own White House, it's just insane,” Clinton said. “It's sad that it's so tackied up, and it's a reflection of, you know, his narcissistic personality and his need to feel important, including sticking gold embellishments all over the walls of the Oval Office."
Clinton added: “I was in the Oval Office under, gosh, I think Carter, you know Bill obviously, Obama, Biden etcetera, and I'm looking at what he's doing to it, and this is a man who can't concentrate, this is a man whose mind, apparently, goes to 'where can I add more gold' instead of 'how do I get out of Iran without looking like the loser that I am? How do I begin to, you know, deal with AI, which is a serious threat to our security, our labor force, and so much else.' His mind is about what are these things that reflect my need to appear important and so that’s what he spends his time on.”
08/10/2026 5:35 a.m ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Sam Wilson.
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