Trump Snubbed for Nobel Peace Prize Again Despite ‘I Settled Eight Wars’ Lobbying Campaign

(Alex Brandon/AP photo)

President Donald Trump has once again missed out on the Nobel Peace Prize despite repeatedly arguing that he deserved the honor for what he claims are eight wars brought to an end by his administration.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee instead awarded the 2026 prize Friday to veteran South African jurist and human rights advocate Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, honoring her decades-long work defending human rights, advancing international justice and pursuing accountability for war crimes and genocide.

The committee cited Pillay’s “exceptional courage and integrity” for having “led the way” to a more “global and comprehensive legal order,” noting her beginnings “defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid” in her native South Africa.

Pillay is a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar stands accused of genocide. She previously served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The decision marks another disappointment for Trump, who has spent years publicly coveting the prestigious award and insisting his record of international diplomacy made him an obvious candidate.

Just two days ago, the president was asked about the upcoming award in the Oval Office while announcing the auto-enrollment of children in Trump Accounts.

“It is about that time,” Trump said on Wednesday. “But I was very honored to receive it indirectly last time by the recipient, who said nobody in history deserves it more than President Trump.”

Trump nevertheless appeared to anticipate another rejection: “I settled eight wars. And I’ve stopped, maybe, the total obliteration of the world because Iran will never have a nuclear weapon and that’s a positive thing, a very positive thing. And other presidents should have done it before me or somebody should have done it. So, I don’t know what their decision is 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,” he added.

Trump has repeatedly claimed to have settled eight wars since returning to the White House in January 2025. Several leaders, including those of Cambodia, Israel, and Pakistan, have said they nominated him for the prize, although Nobel nominations are kept secret and cannot independently be verified.

Some of the president’s claims have also been disputed. Fighting has resumed in areas including the Democratic Republic of Congo and along the Cambodia-Thailand border, while Trump has yet to deliver an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In addition, the U.S. and Israel also launched strikes against Iran in February, triggering a conflict that has continued for months.

The snub comes a year after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado beat Trump to the 2025 prize. Machado later presented her Nobel medal to Trump at the White House in January, describing the gesture as recognition of his support for Venezuela.

That transfer was symbolic, however, since the Nobel title itself cannot be reassigned.

Trump has repeatedly cited the episode while arguing he should have won the award himself. His frustration with the committee has also spilled into his dealings with Norway.

In January, Trump told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in a letter that because his country had not awarded him the prize “for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS,” he no longer felt the same “obligation” to think “purely of Peace.”

The Nobel committee operates independently of the Norwegian government.

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