US President Donald Trump launched a lengthy and angry attack on the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Saturday after it awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called the decision an “indelible stain on Norway” and dismissed Pillay’s decades-long career in human rights law.
“I know nothing about this woman, and neither does anyone else! In fact, to the best of my knowledge, no one ever heard of her other than the fact that she, very obviously, hates Israel,” Trump wrote. He added: “I don’t know what the woman has done.”
The outburst came after Trump had already criticised the award during a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York, on Friday, branding it “disgraceful and embarrassing.” In his Truth Social post, he went further, claiming he “should have won 8 Nobel Peace Prizes” for having “settled 8 wars,” and predicted he would soon “settle, or win, two more,” referring to conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.
Trump listed the conflicts he said he had resolved: Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Israel and Hamas. He did not provide details on how these settlements were achieved.
The president then renewed his attack on Pillay, describing her as a “liberal person who works at the United Nations.” He concluded: “The Nobel 'Peace' Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy, and enemies of civilization!”
Pillay’s long legal and human rights career
Pillay, born in Durban on South Africa’s east coast, has a distinguished record in law and human rights. She served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. Earlier, she worked as a defence attorney for anti-apartheid activists, helping secure rights for prisoners on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held.
She later became an acting judge on the South African High Court and a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. In 2003, she was appointed to the International Criminal Court, serving in its Appeals Chamber until 2008.
In 2025, while chairing the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, Pillay accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. That finding has made her a polarising figure, particularly in Washington.
Upon learning of her Nobel win on Friday, Pillay could not resist a playful jab at Trump. “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump,” she said, in an apparent nod to last year’s winner, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who presented her award to the American president.
US sanctions on the ICC
The Nobel controversy comes as the United States announced sanctions on the International Criminal Court. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington would ban transactions with the court, which it has repeatedly accused of “politicised actions” and of “targeting Israel.”
“We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us,” Rubio said in a video address shared on social media.
The move is likely to deepen transatlantic tensions, as many European governments are strong supporters of the ICC. The court, based in The Hague, has faced pressure from both Washington and Moscow, but European Union officials have consistently defended its independence.
Trump’s latest tirade is unlikely to change the Nobel Committee’s decision, but it has reignited debate about the prize’s criteria and the role of the United States in global diplomacy. As European leaders weigh their response, the episode underscores the widening gap between Washington and European capitals on international justice and multilateralism.
