President Donald Trump spent Friday venting about the Nobel Peace Prize after the award went to someone else for the second year running. He aimed his frustration at the Norwegian institutions behind it and at this year’s laureate, South African jurist Navi Pillay.
A Prize He Has Openly Pursued
Trump has spent much of the past two years publicly angling for the honor, which only two earlier American presidents have received. Argentine President Javier Milei is among those who have formally put his name forward. Trump has said repeatedly that he has ended eight wars, a figure fact-checkers have said does not hold up.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its choice in Oslo on Friday morning. Pillay is a former United Nations human rights chief and chaired a UN commission of inquiry that concluded Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel rejects that finding.
Reaction on Truth Social and the Campaign Trail
Within hours, Trump reposted a message from attorney David Schoen to his roughly 10 million followers on Truth Social. Schoen defended Trump in his 2021 Senate impeachment trial. His post accused the committee of discrediting itself and described Pillay as hostile toward the United States and Israel. It also said she had done nothing to advance peace.
Later, at a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York, Trump spoke for himself. He called the winner a liberal who works at the United Nations and whom nobody had heard of. He also warned Norway that the slight would not be forgotten. Reports described a further late-night run of social media posts on the subject.
Disputed Claims About Iran
Trump pointed to what he sees as major achievements. He said he had kept Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and had saved more lives than anyone in history. The Guardian noted that US intelligence agencies told Congress in 2025 that Iran had in fact halted its pursuit of a nuclear weapon back in 2003.
The complaint also comes in a year when Trump launched a war with Iran. He announced major combat operations on February 28, and talks aimed at ending the fighting later broke down. Trump said Friday that he would bring the conflicts to a close quickly.
White House Hostility Toward the UN
The administration’s attitude toward the UN’s human rights work was already harsh. Last month, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said the body had achieved nothing for human rights in decades and had instead produced unserious rhetoric. Pillay’s win puts a figure from that system in the global spotlight and gives Trump a new target.
Political Backdrop
The outburst comes less than a month before the November 3 midterm elections. Trump is campaigning while contending with high fuel prices and a series of foreign policy controversies. Whether the Nobel dispute affects voters is unclear. It shows, however, how much importance Trump places on the prize and how readily he turns on those he believes have denied it to him.
Source: The Guardian, The Independent and The Mirror
