As he did last year, US President Donald Trump made no secret of his indignation on Friday at being passed over for the prize. He remarked pointedly that he had “never heard” anyone talk about this year’s laureate, South African judge Navi Pillay, whose award had been announced earlier in the day.
Reaction to the award
“The US, represented by me, your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but that didn’t happen,” Trump said during a speech in Syracuse.
“This is an indelible stain on Norway and on those who took this disgraceful and shameful decision. The Nobel Peace Prize has been discredited as never before by a handful of radical ideologues who are against democracy,” he said. He added that they were “in reality enemies of civilisation”.
Claim to have ended eight wars
The 80-year-old Republican launched a war against Iran in late February, after sending US special forces in January to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He insisted once again that he deserved the honour because, he said, he had ended eight wars.
Machado’s medal and the FIFA prize
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, handed her gold medal to Trump, saying he “deserved” it, to his great satisfaction.
That did not stop the Republican president from announcing a series of agreements with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who had served as Maduro’s vice president until his overthrow.
Some consolation for Trump came in December 2025, when he became the first recipient of FIFA’s new “peace prize”, an award sharply criticised by his political opponents.
New White House spokesperson
Separately, Trump confirmed on Friday, in a post on his Truth Social platform, that he had chosen Katie Zacharia as his new White House spokesperson. Zacharia is a lawyer and commentator aligned with the MAGA movement.
“Her support has always been exemplary and she has been a loyal and wonderful ally from the start. She is also a supporter and devoted member of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement,” the Republican president wrote.
