Donald Trump lashed out at the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday and Saturday after it awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist Navi Pillay, calling the decision a “disgraceful and embarrassing” choice that left an “indelible stain on Norway.”
Speaking at a rally in Syracuse, New York, on Friday, Trump dismissed Pillay as a “liberal person who nobody has heard of” and claimed he should have won the prize for ending eight wars and resolving other conflicts. “In all of the wars I’ve settled, I never spoke to the UN; they were of no help to me,” he said. “The United States of America, represented by me, your president, should’ve received the Nobel Peace Prize.”
In a late-night post on Truth Social, Trump repeated his claim that he had “ended 8 wars” and was close to resolving two more, citing his role in freeing Israeli hostages, confronting Venezuela’s government, and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. “Yet, despite all this, neither I nor the United States of America received the Nobel Peace Prize. WOW!” he wrote. He also called Pillay “very anti-Israel” and alleged she was unknown to most people.
Pillay, a former U.N. human rights chief and judge at the International Criminal Court, was recognized by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for her work in prosecuting war crimes and upholding international law. Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said the award aimed to reaffirm that “peace requires justice.” At a conference in Nuremberg, Pillay joked about Trump’s reaction, telling an audience, “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump,” according to footage shared by Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnes Callamard.
The White House had previously criticized the committee’s 2025 prize, awarded to Venezuelan activist María Corina Machado, accusing it of prioritizing “politics over peace.”
