The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three scientists, but President Donald Trump thinks there should be a fourth honoree.
Trump, 79, patted himself on the back on Thursday over the prestigious prize, which was awarded earlier this month to three physicists affiliated with American universities for their discoveries related to quantum mechanics from experiments conducted between 1984 and 1985.
The president cited Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a Truth Social post claiming credit for the Nobel Prize.
“Chris Wright: ‘A former Lawrence Berkeley National Lab scientist won the Nobel Prize in physics for work in Quantum physics. Quantum computing, along with AI and Fusion, are the three signature Trump science efforts,” he wrote. “‘Trump 47 racks up his first Nobel Prize!!’”
Trump was likely referring to John Clarke, an 83-year-old British scientist formerly with the Department of Energy’s Berkeley Lab and an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics alongside Frenchman Michel Devoret, 72, with Yale University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as American John Martinis, 67, also with UCSB.
“This work was done in 1985, so I suppose you should credit another Republican, Ronald Reagan,” Martinis told the Daily Beast. “However, Trump has emphasized quantum computing is a priority for his administration, and I think everyone appreciates his support of this technology.”
The post came just a day after the president credited himself with ending a made-up war against the climate change “hoax,” in an apparent bid to keep the flame burning on his long-shot attempt to win a Nobel Peace Prize, which he failed to secure despite aggressive lobbying.
“The President of the United States is so upset about his failed campaign for a Nobel Prize that he’s now trying to claim someone else’s prize as his own. Pathetic,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
It was unclear when Wright made the remark quoted by Trump. When reached for clarification, the White House pointed the Daily Beast to X posts by the Energy Department congratulating this year’s Nobel Prize awardees.
Energy Undersecretary Darío Gil earlier celebrated the award as “well-deserved recognition of this groundbreaking research funded by the Office of Science.”
“The laureates’ outstanding impact on quantum research will continue to shape the field through DOE’s National Quantum Information Sciences Research Centers. We are so proud to support this amazing research,” he said in a statement.
The Daily Beast has also reached out to Clarke and Devoret for comment.
Clarke earlier expressed alarm at the Trump administration’s mass firings of government scientists and sweeping funding cuts to science and medicine research programs, describing them as “an immensely serious problem” that’s “entirely beyond any understanding of anyone who is a scientist.”
“This will cripple much of United States science research,” he told AFP. “It is going to be disastrous if this continues. Assuming that the present administration finally comes to an end, it may take a decade to get back to where we were, say, half a year ago.”
