Donald Trump did not mount an intense campaign as he did last year, but he still raged against the outcome. As in 2025, the U.S. president expressed outrage on Friday, October 10, over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, claiming he had “never heard of” the laureate announced earlier that day — South African jurist Navi Pillay.
“The United States, represented by myself, your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but it didn’t happen,” Trump said during a rally in Syracuse, in the northeastern United States. “It’s an indelible stain on Norway and the people who made this shameful and embarrassing decision,” said the occupant of the White House.
Trump Claims Prize ‘Discredited Forever’
“The Nobel Peace Prize has been discredited forever by a handful of radical ideologues who are against democracy and who are in reality enemies of civilization,” he further declared.
The 80-year-old Republican, who launched a war against Iran and had former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro captured by U.S. special forces, once again asserted that he deserved the distinction for settling eight conflicts — a figure that is largely fanciful.
Nobel Laureate Mocks Trump
For her part, the prize laureate took a subtle jab at the American president. “If you applaud a little too loudly, maybe I’ll share the prize with Trump,” Navi Pillay quipped shortly after her victory.
This was a reference to the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had given her gold medal to the American president — to his great satisfaction and despite a rebuke from the Nobel Committee.
This did not prevent the Republican leader from subsequently negotiating with Venezuela’s Delcy Rodriguez, former vice president of the deposed leader Nicolas Maduro. Trump partly consoled himself by becoming, in December 2025, the first recipient of a FIFA peace prize — an award that attracted considerable mockery from his opponents.
Netanyahu Joins Criticism
The American president was not the only one complaining about the award going to Navi Pillay. The choice of this jurist, who chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry that concluded Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, was obviously criticized by the Jewish state.
“The Nobel Committee has lost its moral compass,” fumed Benjamin Netanyahu, asserting that “it awarded its highest distinction to a sectarian [who contributed to] the demonization of Jews.”
International Community Rallies Behind Pillay
Attacks of this kind do not represent the majority of reactions, with a wide array of international actors congratulating Navi Pillay on her prize — from the UN Secretary-General to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the foreign ministries of France and the Palestinian Authority.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, for his part, stated that his country was “proud” of Navi Pillay.
