Trump says Nobel committee’s failure to award him peace prize leaves ‘indelible stain’ on Norway

President Donald Trump on Friday deplored the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s choice not to award him its annual peace prize, telling participants that the decision leaves “an indelible stain on the country of Norway.”

Speaking at a rally in support of New York Republicans in Syracuse, Trump listed all the accomplishments in office that he said earned him the right to win the Nobel Peace Prize, including efforts to end or prevent conflicts in Africa and Asia and for “saving more lives than anyone in history.”

Earlier Friday, the committee awarded the prize to Navi Pillay, an 85-year-old South African legal pioneer who led a U.N. panel that concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

“I’ve never heard of this person,” Trump said. “I know a lot of people. I’ve never heard of this particular person, but congratulations anyway. … The United States of America, which I represent as your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but it didn’t.”

“And it is an indelible stain on the country of Norway and on these people who made such a shameful and embarrassing decision,” Trump continued. “The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical, anti-democratic ideologues and true enemies of civilization, and we will not forget Norway. That you did not award this prize with the greatest record in history.”

The president added that he should have received eight Nobel Peace Prizes for his efforts, as he claims to have ended eight ongoing conflicts. The president made no mention of the war in Ukraine, which raged throughout his presidency as his administration failed to end the conflict. And in the Middle East, the president launched a war with Iran earlier this year that continues.

Trump said the committee’s choice to give the prize to Pillay “is just another sign of how Norway and all these others are ripping off our country.”

Throughout his second term, the president has made clear his ambition to win a Nobel Peace Prize, and his allies have said he deserves it for his efforts to end the war in Gaza, in addition to other conflicts. Earlier this year, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the 2025 winner, offered to share her prize as she sought his support for her efforts in Venezuela after the Trump administration removed former President Nicolás Maduro from power.

After learning of his award announcement at a legal meeting in Germany on Friday, Pillay joked to the crowd: “If you clap a little more, maybe I’ll share this award with Trump.” »

The president was in Syracuse to promote the candidacy of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and state Republicans. He shouted out Saritha Komatireddy, the Republican nominee for state attorney general as well, before attacking sitting Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat with whom he has often clashed.

“And on Election Day, New Yorkers should tell Governor Kathy Hochul and that disgusting female dog Letitia – she’s a female dog – that you’re fired. Get out of here.”

The Trump administration has so far repeatedly failed in its efforts to prosecute James, who led an investigation into his business dealings that led a state judge to rule he conspired to manipulate his net worth and fine him more than $350 million. The fine was later thrown out on appeal by a state court.

“Donald Trump is in Syracuse to support the only candidate for attorney general who defended Brett Kavanaugh, the man who ended Roe v. Wade,” a James campaign spokesperson said in response to the president’s comments. “The contrast is clear and we appreciate it.”