In May 2025, when former U.S. President Barack Obama met with Norway's King Harald V, rumors spread that the king had in turn snubbed U.S. President Donald Trump, who had requested his own meeting.
Numerous posts on X, Reddit, Instagram and YouTube claimed Trump asked for an audience with King Harald, who opted to invite Obama instead. The Instagram post stated:
Ironic, isn't it? Trump reportedly wanted to meet King Harald after his Oval Office meeting — but Norway rolled out the red carpet for Obama instead. After President Donald Trump met with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in a recent Oval Office visit, sources say Trump expressed interest in meeting King Harald V of Norway. That meeting never materialized.
Instead, it was Barack Obama who received a warm royal welcome in Oslo.
On his visit to Norway, Obama met with King Harald, Prime Minister Støre, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit at the royal family's Bygdø estate. The informal gathering focused on climate, democracy, and transatlantic cooperation — themes Obama continues to champion on the global stage.
The contrast couldn't be clearer. While Trump's interest in a royal handshake was quietly shelved, Obama was invited without having to ask.
While it is true that Obama met with the king of Norway, and Trump expressed interest in meeting the king as well, there is no evidence that the king snubbed the latter in favor of the former. In fact, the day Obama was photographed meeting the king, Trump was on a visit to the Middle East. As such we rate this claim as false.
We reached out to the White House, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre's office and King Harald's office to get their responses to the rumors and to learn whether there would be a meeting with Trump in the future.
Trump did ask for a meeting with the king, albeit in an informal way, during a bilateral meeting with Støre at the White House in April 2025. A recording from the White House's official YouTube page shows the leaders seated side by side as Støre extended an invitation to Trump to visit Norway:
JOURNALIST: Why did you invite Norway so soon to the White House?
TRUMP: Because I like them. And I like your prime minister. And I like the way your government runs. And I respect the king. He's highly respected in Norway. It's a great thing. Not an easy thing to do. He's done a great job. Yeah.
JOURNALIST: Would you like an invitation to visit the king?
TRUMP: Absolutely. You get me that invitation.
STØRE: I just told the president, he's welcome to visit Norway.
The exchange took place at the 13:38 mark:
At this moment, we do not have evidence that Trump formally requested an audience with the king, outside of the casual comment he made above in response to a reporter's question.
Sara Svanemyr, a spokesperson for Norway's Royal Court told Snopes over email: "His Majesty the King is host when other heads of state visit Norway. The dialogue regarding official visits to Norway takes place through diplomatic channels."
Andreas Bjørklund, a spokesperson for Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Snopes over email: "There is certainly no link between the meeting with the former President and the invitation to President Trump to visit Norway."
Spokespersons from both the Royal Court and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the meeting between Obama and the king was informal.
Obama met with Norway's king on May 13, 2025, as seen in photos posted on the Norwegian Royal House's official Instagram account. The caption stated:
The King and the Crown Princess received former US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at Bygdø Kongsgård.
The former US President is visiting Norway in connection with a lecture. Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.
(Instagram user "detnorskekongehus")
Obama was already in Oslo, Norway, giving a lecture on May 12, 2025, at the Oslo Spektrum arena.
From May 13 to 16, 2025, Trump was on an official Middle East tour, overlapping with Obama's meeting with the king.
We have no proof that the king chose to meet Obama over Trump. Given that Norway's prime minister publicly extended an invitation to Trump during their April 2025 meeting, and Trump was on a Middle East tour at the same time Obama was in Norway meeting the king, there is no evidence to prove the claim. It is possible that Trump will meet Norway's king in the future.