Trump attacks Nobel winner as 'liberal person nobody heard of'

US President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on Friday against this year's Nobel Peace Prize recipient, describing South African jurist Navi Pillay as "a liberal person who works at the United Nations, who nobody has ever heard of" during a Republican campaign rally in Syracuse, New York. Speaking ahead of November's midterm elections, Trump expressed disbelief that Pillay had received the honor while he had not, claiming he had "settled eight wars" during his time in office without recognition from the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

'I did eight'

Trump told supporters that his diplomatic achievements surpassed those of previous presidents, citing his role in resolving tensions between India and Pakistan as evidence of his peacemaking credentials. "Any one of these eight wars, you get the Nobel Prize. I did eight. No president’s ever done any," he said, adding that the omission represented a failure by the award's custodians to acknowledge American leadership.

'Enemies of civilization'

The Republican leader escalated his criticism into a broader assault on Norway and the Nobel Committee, declaring that the prize had been "forever discredited by a handful of Radical Ideologues who are Anti-Democracy, and Enemies of Civilization." In a subsequent post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: "I know nothing about this woman, and neither does anyone else! In fact, to the best of my knowledge, no one ever heard of her other than the fact that she, very obviously, hates Israel."

Pillay's record

Pillay served as the United Nations high commissioner for human rights from 2008 to 2014 and chaired a UN commission of inquiry that concluded Israel had committed genocide in the Gaza Strip. The Nobel Committee honored her for her central role in efforts to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, noting that her work had widened the effect of international law worldwide.