President Donald Trump expressed regret over the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s choice not to award him the annual Peace Prize on Friday, telling a rally audience that the decision “left an indelible stain on the Norwegian nation.”
Speaking at a rally in support of New York Republicans in Syracuse, Trump listed all the achievements in office that he believes qualify him for the Nobel Peace Prize, including efforts to end or prevent conflicts in Africa and Asia and “saving more lives than anyone in history.”
Earlier on Friday, the committee awarded the award to Navi Pillay, the 85-year-old South African legal pioneer who led the U.N. panel that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
“I’ve never heard of this guy,” Trump said. “I know a lot of people. I’ve never heard of this guy, but anyway, congratulations. … The United States of America, with me as president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but he didn’t.”
“This is an indelible stain on the country of Norway and on those who made such a shameful and embarrassing decision,” Trump continued. “The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical thinkers who are anti-democratic and the true enemies of civilization, and we will not forget Norway. This award you gave was not the greatest in history.”
The president added that he should be awarded eight Nobel Peace Prizes for his efforts, as he claimed to have ended eight ongoing conflicts. The president made no mention of the war in Ukraine, which has raged throughout his presidency as his administration failed to end the conflict. In the Middle East, the president launched an ongoing war with Iran earlier this year.
Trump said the committee’s choice to award the award to Pillay was “just another sign of how Norway and all other countries have shortchanged our country.”
In his second term, the president has made clear his ambition to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and his allies say he deserves it for his efforts to end the war in Gaza, among other conflicts. Earlier this year, the 2025 winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, offered to share the prize with him as she sought his support for her efforts in Venezuela after the Trump administration ousted former President Nicolás Maduro from power.
After learning of his win at a legal rally in Germany on Friday, Pillay joked to the crowd: “If you had applauded a little more, I might have shared the award with Trump.”
The president is traveling to Syracuse to boost the candidacy of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blackman and state Republicans. He also yelled at Republican state attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy and then attacked current state attorney general Letitia James, who has often clashed with him.
“On Election Day, New Yorkers should tell both parties [Gov. Kathy] Hochul and that disgusting Letitia dog – she’s a dog – you’re fired. Get out of here quickly. “
The Trump administration has so far failed repeatedly in its efforts to prosecute James, who spearheaded an investigation into his business dealings, leading a state judge to rule that he conspired to manipulate his net worth and order him to pay more than $350 million in fines. A state court dismissed the fine on appeal.
“Donald Trump is in Syracuse endorsing the only attorney general candidate who clerked for the end of Roe v. Wade, Brett Kavanaugh,” a James campaign spokesman said in response to the president’s comments. “The contrast is very clear and we welcome it.”