US President Donald Trump has angrily denounced the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, calling the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award it to South African jurist Navi Pillay “a disgraceful and embarrassing decision” that left “an indelible stain” on Norway.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York, hours after the prize was announced in Oslo on Friday, Trump insisted the award should have gone to him. “The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn’t,” he told his supporters.
FAKTA
- Who won: Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, an 85-year-old South African judge and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, received the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, 9 October.
- Why: The committee honoured her for advancing universal legal principles and for her role in ensuring war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.
- Trump’s reaction: At a rally in Syracuse, New York, he called the choice “disgraceful and embarrassing”, said he had “never heard of” Pillay, and warned Norway: “We will not forget.”
- The prize: A gold medal, a diploma and a cash award of $1.2 million.
“Indelible Stain on Norway”
Trump dismissed the new laureate as a “mystery person”. “I never heard of the person. Nobody did,” he said, adding: “I never heard of this particular person, but congratulations anyway.”
He then turned his criticism on the committee and its host country. “This is an indelible stain on the country of Norway and those people that made such a disgraceful and embarrassing decision,” Trump said.
“The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilisation. And we will not forget, Norway,” he added.
The president listed a number of conflicts in which he claims to have played a role in resolving, and said he had helped prevent wars between North and South Korea, Japan and North Korea, and China and Taiwan, without providing evidence, according to Reuters.
Pillay’s Joking Offer to Share the Prize
Pillay, learning of her win while attending an international law gathering in Nuremberg, Germany, answered with a joke when the audience applauded her. “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump,” she said, drawing laughter.
The remark was widely seen as a reference to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who gave her Nobel gold medal to Trump after winning the prize last year.
Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes praised Pillay as “one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time”, saying her decades of work defending human dignity had earned her the award. Pillay previously served as a judge at the International Criminal Court and led a United Nations commission whose report concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
Trump’s Long Campaign for the Prize
Trump has made no secret of his desire for the Nobel Peace Prize since returning to the White House. He has repeatedly claimed credit for helping to resolve eight international conflicts, and allies such as Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna said they had formally nominated him.
Just two days before the announcement, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that passing him over would be “a great discredit” to the committee. He has expressed disappointment at missing out in each year of his presidency.
The president’s frustration has not been limited to the committee: earlier this year he told Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt obliged to think purely about peace after being snubbed.
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