Trump Says Nobel Decision Leaves“Indelible Stain” On Norway

(MENAFN- Khaama Press) U.S. President Donald Trump has sharply criticized the decision to award the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist Navi Pillay, calling it a“disgraceful and embarrassing” decision and saying it had left an“indelible stain” on Norway.

Trump made the remarks on Friday, October 9, at a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York, hours after the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Pillay as this year's laureate. He dismissed her as someone he had never heard of and accused the prize's decision-makers of being“radical ideologues” opposed to democracy.

Trump also argued that he deserved the award because of his claimed role in resolving international conflicts. He criticized the United Nations, saying it had not helped him in his efforts to settle disputes, and maintained that the United States should have received the prize under his leadership. These were his own claims; he did not provide evidence to support all of his assertions about preventing or resolving conflicts.

The Nobel Committee awarded Pillay the prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law. A former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, she has spent decades working on human rights and international justice, including serving as a judge at the International Criminal Court and presiding over the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Pillay also chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel from 2021 to 2025. In a report published in 2025, the commission concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel has strongly rejected that conclusion and disputed the commission's findings.

The award has drawn renewed attention to tensions between the Trump administration and international legal institutions. On October 9, the United States also imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court, according to reporting by The Guardian, further escalating disputes over international accountability and the court's work.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, an independent body, rather than by the Norwegian government. Trump's criticism therefore targeted the committee's decision and its members, while the award itself recognized Pillay's long career in human rights and international law.

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