Key facts
- Donald Trump criticized the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday.
- The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to human rights lawyer Navanethem Pillay.
- Trump claimed he is about to settle or win wars in Iran and Russia-Ukraine.
- Trump stated that Norway has an "indelible stain" for not awarding him the prize.
Donald Trump criticized the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday, calling its decision to award the 2026 Peace Prize to human rights lawyer Navanethem Pillay "disgraceful" and "embarrassing." Trump, who is currently engaged in a war with Iran and claims he is close to settling conflicts in Iran and with Russia over Ukraine, stated that Norway has an "indelible stain" for not awarding him the prize.
Trump devoted a significant portion of a rally speech to airing his grievances, asserting that the United States, represented by him as president, should have received the award. He claimed the Nobel Peace Prize has been "forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilization."
Pillay, a South African former UN human rights chief, chaired the UN commission that concluded Israel was guilty of genocide in Gaza. Trump dismissed her award, stating it went to a "liberal person who works at the United Nations, who nobody has ever heard of."
Trump also recited a list of conflicts he claims to have settled, some of which were not wars and some that are still ongoing. He asserted he would end the wars in Iran and Russia-Ukraine "quickly," adding darkly that "Iran will be very quick one way or the other: that they give us everything or they don’t exist any longer."