President Donald Trump once again failed to win the award he has obsessed over for years.
Instead, the prestigious honor went to a South African woman who wasted no time rubbing it in his face.
(Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump’s fixation on the Nobel Peace Prize began over a decade ago and has seeped into his constant rants and speeches. During his second term, the MAGA chief pressured the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award him the prize.
Trump has repeatedly complained that he deserved the medal more than Barack Obama, who won it in 2009.
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Trump’s lobbying after returning to the White House in 2025 did not earn him the Nobel Peace Prize that year. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the honor instead, then symbolically shared it with Trump to show solidarity.
On Oct. 9, the Nobel Committee announced the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize winner: former UN human rights chief and International Court of Justice judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay.
“Navi Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career,” read a statement from the Nobel Committee.
The press release praised her contributions to strengthening “the institutions of international law. Her independence, expertise, and steadfastness have made her one of the most respected international jurists of our time.”
Pillay, 85, delivered remarks following the Nobel Committee’s announcement while attending the Nuremberg Forum in Germany.
A clip of the Indian Tamil-descended attorney speaking about becoming a Nobel laureate quickly circulated online.
Spectators applauded loudly as Pillay stepped toward the cameras. A nearly 40-second ovation finally ended when she thanked her supporters before slipping in a lighthearted dig at the President of the United States.
“Thank you very much,” the Harvard Law School graduate told the cheering onlookers. “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.” The room exploded with laughter at the president’s expense.
Pillay’s off-hand joke quickly consumed social media timelines. Knowing Trump’s reputation for lashing back out when he feels slighted, observers anticipated a sharp response from the thin-skinned billionaire.
“He will never win this award,” one person on X asked in response to a clip of Pillay ripping Trump apart posted around 5 a.m.
“Trump is going to be so, so mad. Worse that it’s a South African, worse that it’s a woman. Congratulations, Navi,” expressed another poster.
Within hours, Trump was seething. He reshared a post on Truth Social from attorney David Schoen at 7:58 a.m.
The post criticized the Nobel Committee’s decision to award Pillay, calling her an “unabashed hater of America.”
Schoen said, “She has no credibility in any normal sphere and has never done a thing to foster peace. Just the opposite. But what could be expected from a committee that previously gave the once coveted peace prize to Yasser Arafat?”
“And yet she won the Nobel Peace Prize,” said one Pillay supporter on X. “Gee, it’s almost as if the larger world doesn’t adhere to the magical thinking and fantasy world Donald Trump has constructed around himself and his mouth-breathing supporters.”
Others warned this is just the beginning of Trump’s online wrath, as the brutal jab might push him over the edge.
“Trump’s temper tantrum and revenge tour responding to the ‘snub’ is just getting started. Watch!” one person predicted.
The president previously seemed fully aware he wouldn’t win the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
During an Oval Office photo-op on Oct. 7, he launched into an extended diatribe about the outcome, which was still unknown.
“I don’t know what their decision’s going to be. They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me. But whether I get it or not, I have done far more, and I think it would be a great discredit to them,” Trump told reporters.
The president received another ego boost when FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented him with a newly created FIFA Peace Prize in 2025.
