‘No one ever heard of her’: Trump goes off on petty rant after Nobel Peace Prize snub
Trump attacks Nobel decision after Navi Pillay receives Peace Prize
Poinews.com – US President Donald Trump launched a fierce attack on the Nobel Peace Prize decision to honour South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, using a lengthy overnight post on Truth Social to question her record and promote his own foreign-policy claims.
Trump described the selection as an “indelible stain on Norway” and said he was unfamiliar with Pillay, whose career has included senior roles in South African courts, United Nations institutions and international criminal tribunals.
“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.”
He added: “I don’t know what the woman has done.” The comments focused particular attention on Pillay’s work involving Israel and the Palestinian territories, an area that has become central to political disagreements between Washington, international legal bodies and human-rights institutions.
Trump claims record of settling conflicts
In the same post, Trump argued that he should have received eight Nobel Peace Prizes. He said he had “settled 8 wars” and predicted that he would shortly “settle, or win, two more,” referring to the conflicts involving Iran and Ukraine.
The president named 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 among the disputes he said he had resolved.
His remarks grew more forceful as the post continued. Trump returned to Pillay, calling her a “liberal person who works at the United Nations,” before accusing the Nobel committee of undermining the award’s standing.
“The Nobel ‘Peace’ Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy, and enemies of civilization!”
The online outburst followed an earlier criticism delivered during a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York, on Friday. There, Trump called the prize decision “disgraceful and embarrassing.”
The Nobel Peace Prize frequently carries political significance beyond the individual recipient. While the award is intended to recognise efforts related to peace, diplomacy, human rights and conflict resolution, its choices can prompt sharp reactions from governments and political leaders whose records or policies are implicated by the recipient’s work.
Pillay’s legal and human-rights career
Pillay was born in Durban, on South Africa’s eastern coast, and built her career through the country’s struggle against apartheid and later through international justice institutions.
Early in her professional life, she represented anti-apartheid activists as a defence lawyer. Her work included helping secure rights for prisoners held on Robben Island, the prison most closely associated with Nelson Mandela’s long incarceration.
She later became an acting judge of the South African High Court. Her judicial career then extended beyond South Africa when she served as a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, an institution created to prosecute crimes connected to the 1994 genocide.
In 2003, Pillay was appointed to the International Criminal Court. She worked in its Appeals Chamber until 2008, the year she became the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She held that UN position until 2014.
More recently, Pillay has chaired the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. In 2025, while serving in that role, she accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. That accusation has made her a highly contentious figure for supporters of Israel and for officials who reject the commission’s conclusions.
A pointed response at the award announcement
When Pillay learned on Friday that she had won the Peace Prize, she appeared to respond lightly to the political backdrop surrounding the award. Referring to applause, she joked about Trump’s longstanding interest in receiving the honour.
“If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.”
The remark appeared to reference Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, last year’s recipient, who presented her award to the American president.
The exchange unfolded as the United States renewed its confrontation with the International Criminal Court. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday that Washington would impose sanctions on the court, which the US has repeatedly accused of carrying out “politicised actions” and “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.
“Our message is clear, the United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC,” he added.
The timing places Trump’s criticism of Pillay within a broader dispute over the role of international institutions in investigating alleged violations during war. Pillay’s award recognises a career that has moved from apartheid-era legal advocacy to global human-rights work, while Trump’s response underscores how profoundly contested those institutions have become in US political debate.
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