(The Turkish Post) – U.S. President Donald Trump called the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for South African jurist Navi Pillay “an indelible stain” on Norway, hours after his administration imposed sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court, where she once served as a judge.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award in Oslo on Friday, Oct. 9. It said Pillay had been instrumental in making sure that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted. The prize is worth 12 million Swedish crowns, about $1.2 million.
Trump attacks the Nobel Peace Prize decision
Speaking at a campaign rally in Syracuse, New York, on Friday evening, Trump called the decision “disgraceful and embarrassing” and described Pillay as a “liberal person who works at the United Nations.” He said the choice was “an indelible stain on the country of Norway.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform overnight, Trump wrote: “I know nothing about this woman, and neither does anyone else!”
Trump repeated his claim that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize himself, saying he “should have won 8” for what he called settling eight wars.
Norway’s government has said before that it has no say over the award. After earlier criticism from Trump in January, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the prize is given by an independent committee and not by the Norwegian government. The committee’s five members are appointed by the Norwegian parliament.
Who is Navi Pillay
Navi Pillay, 85, is a South African of Indian Tamil descent. In 1967 she became the first woman to open a law practice in what was then Natal province, and she went on to defend opponents of apartheid. She later became the first woman of color to sit on South Africa’s High Court.
She served as a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and then at the International Criminal Court, before working as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. The Nobel committee singled out her work at the Rwanda tribunal, which established that rape and sexual violence can constitute crimes against humanity and genocide.
From 2021 she chaired the UN commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, which concluded in 2025 that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel refused to cooperate with the inquiry and rejected its findings. Pillay now sits as a judge at the International Court of Justice in the case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya.
Pillay learned of the prize in Nuremberg, Germany. She said she would “dedicate this award to all of the survivors of international crimes.”
Washington announces ICC sanctions
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the ICC sanctions in a video on Friday. The measures block the court’s property under U.S. jurisdiction and bar Americans and U.S. companies from doing business with it.
Rubio said the United States would cut off the court’s resources. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” he said. Washington accuses the court of bias against the United States and Israel, neither of which is a member.
European states, Canada, Japan and the United Nations voiced support for the court, and the European Union called the U.S. measures regrettable.
Reactions to the Nobel Peace Prize
Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the award “the grotesque weaponisation of an award to legitimise anti-Israel hatred and prejudice.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the prize was “a tribute to all those working to uphold and defend international law, the rule of law and human rights.”
At the announcement, Pillay drew laughter when she told applauding colleagues: “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.” The remark referred to last year’s laureate, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who presented her medal to Trump.
The committee received 287 nominations for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The award will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
