President Donald Trump believed his record of ending conflicts would earn him the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. What actually happened was a sharp rejection. The Norwegian Nobel Committee chose not to award him the honor on Friday.
According to NBC News, while addressing a Syracuse, New York rally, Trump stated that the decision "an indelible stain on the country of Norway" remains. He listed his accomplishments as reasons he deserved the award. He claimed he has "saved more lives than anyone in history" by stopping wars. Navi Pillay, an 85-year-old South African jurist, received the prize instead from the committee. A U.N. panel led by her determined that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
Trump said he did not know who won the prize. "I've never heard of the person," he said. "I know a lot of people. Although I never heard of this particular person, congratulations are offered anyway. He added that the United States, represented by him as president, should have received the award. The Washington Examiner reported Trump called Pillay a "mystery person during his speech. He argued that no other president has done what he claims to have done.
Trump has long wanted this prize. He first received a nomination in 2018 from Norwegian lawmakers. In 2019, he told reporters, "I think I'm going to get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don't," per Fox News. He has been nominated at least five times by people like former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Despite these nominations, he was passed over again this year.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump outlined his case for the award. He claimed he had "settled 8 Wars" and was close to "settling, or win[ning], two more," the New York Post reported. Specific actions he claimed should have earned him the prize were listed by him. These include capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and getting "all of the Israeli hostages back." He also cited efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
RedState noted that Trump has criticized the committee's bias before. He stated to a reporter in 2025 that the Nobel Peace Prize would not be awarded to him, noting that it is given only to liberals. He argued that the current recipient has a weaker record. Trump stated that any one of the eight wars he claims to have ended would normally earn a Nobel Prize. He said he did eight. No other president has done any, he complained.
Supporters of Trump and Israel reacted strongly to the news. RedState reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "absolutely eviscerated the globalist committee." The Israeli Foreign Ministry released a statement about Pillay. They said if there were an award for "lies, hatred, and blood libels," she would be a "frontrunner." Breitbart reported that critics see the award as a political move against Trump and Netanyahu.
The Nobel Prize committee has lost its moral compass. It has awarded its highest honor to a bigot who built her career around inventing and propagating blood libels against the one and only Jewish state.
Navi Pillay’s proudest achievement was to legitimize a corrupt prosecutor who turned to her fabrications against Israel hoping that by joining her bigoted lynch mob, he would beat a rape charge.
Karim Khan, who was accused by his own ICC employees of raping and sexually molesting them, used Pillay’s lies to build a fake case against Israel.
Pillay supplied the lies. Khan weaponized them. And now the misguided members of the Nobel Committee are honoring the woman who propagated this demonization of the Jews and this travesty of justice.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 9, 2026
Pillay joked about the situation on Friday. According to the Washington Examiner, she said she "may share this prize with Trump" if her supporters "clap a little bit more." Trump dismissed this as another sign of the committee's unfairness. He maintained that his resume is stronger. He called the decision "disgraceful and embarrassing." The Nobel Peace Prize, he said, has been "forever discredited" by radical ideologues.
Trump said the United States did not get the prize despite his efforts.