The US president criticized Norway at a New York rally hours after the Norwegian Nobel Committee named South African jurist Navi Pillay this year’s laureate.
US President Donald Trump slams Norway over Nobel Peace Prize snub after the Norwegian Nobel Committee named Navi Pillay the 2026 laureate on Friday. According to NBC News, Trump told a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York, that the decision leaves “an indelible stain on the country of Norway.” He argued the prize should have gone to him as president of the United States.
Trump Slams Norway Over Nobel Peace Prize Snub at Syracuse Rally
Business Standard reported that Trump told supporters the United States, represented by him, should have received the prize, and that the outcome showed Norway and others were taking advantage of the country. The outlet also reported that he warned, “We will not forget, Norway.”
The Jerusalem Post reported that Trump repeated his claim that he had settled eight wars and said any one of them could have justified a Nobel Peace Prize. CTV News reported that he said a handful of radical ideologues had discredited the prize. He told the rally he had never heard of Pillay.
Who Is Navi Pillay and Why Did She Win?
Yahoo News reported that the committee honored Pillay, a former UN human rights chief, for her efforts to promote peace and international law. The committee’s chair, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, said her work had helped ensure that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted, according to the same report.
CTV News noted that Pillay oversaw a UN report that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza. TRT World reported that Pillay joked she might share the prize with Trump if the crowd kept applauding.
Why Does Trump Blame Norway for the Nobel Decision?
The Nobel Peace Prize is chosen in Norway, but by an independent committee rather than the government. CNN reported in January that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had explained to Trump that the prize is awarded by an independent committee, not the Norwegian government. PolitiFact reported that Trump’s January text message to Støre was misleading about who awards the prize.
The Nobel Peace Prize is handled differently from the other Nobel awards. PTI reported that the process of considering candidates and choosing the winner takes place in Norway, while the other prizes are awarded in neighbouring Sweden. Any national lawmaker can submit a nomination, and entries must reach the Norwegian Nobel Committee by February 1. The committee does not comment publicly on nominees, and its rules require that information to stay secret for 50 years. CTV News reported that Trump has voiced disappointment about missing the prize in each year of his presidency.
Greenland Link and the Earlier Message to Norway
The latest remarks follow an exchange from earlier this year. CNN reported that Trump wrote to Støre that, because Norway’s country had not given him the prize, he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace.”
PBS reported that the message surfaced after Trump announced a 10 percent import tax, starting in February, on goods from eight nations that backed Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.
Machado Medal and Committee Rules
CNN reported that the Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who gave her medal to Trump in Washington in January. Business Standard reported that the Nobel Institute responded by saying a prize cannot be revoked, shared or transferred.
ICC Sanctions Announced the Same Day
Business Standard reported that hours after Pillay received the award, the Trump administration unveiled new sanctions against the International Criminal Court, which the White House has long accused of unfairly targeting the United States and Israel. The outlet said it was not immediately clear whether the sanctions were a response to the Nobel announcement.
None of the reports reviewed included a response from the Norwegian government to Friday’s remarks.
