At a rally in Syracuse, New York, U.S. President [Donald Trump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump) denounced Norway’s decision to award the 2024 [Nobel Peace Prize](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/) to former International Criminal Court judge [Navi Pillay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navi_Pillay), calling the selection ‘disgraceful and embarrassing’ and saying it placed a stain on the country.
He claimed he had "never heard" of the "mystery person" and added, "This is an indelible stain on the country of Norway, we will not forget." Trump also asserted that the prize had been "forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilisation." During the same speech he repeated his unverified claim of having helped settle eight wars and being "about to settle or win two more."
**What did Trump say about the award?**
Trump portrayed the Nobel decision as a political stunt, accusing the Norwegian committee of compromising the prize’s integrity and suggesting that Norway’s reputation had been tarnished by the choice.
**How did the Nobel Committee justify the prize?**
The Nobel Committee explained that Pillay was honoured for her lifelong promotion of peace and international law, noting that her work has advanced a more comprehensive global legal order and helped bring perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide to justice.
**What was the reaction from the Norwegian Nobel Committee?**
[Jørgen Watne Frydnes](https://www.nobelprize.org/committee/) – chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee – praised Pillay’s contribution to international justice. He initially expressed disbelief, saying the award "must be a joke," before thanking the audience and joking, "If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump."
The controversy echoes a similar dispute from the previous year when Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize and Trump accused the committee of putting politics over peace. The White House had earlier claimed the award could be transferred, a notion later rejected by the Nobel Committee, which affirmed that once announced, a Nobel Prize cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred.