Trump reshapes post calling Nobel Peace Prize winner Pillay 'hater of America and Israel'
The US president reposted a message criticising the Nobel committee hours after Pillay was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on international justice.
US President Donald Trump on Friday (9 October) reshared a social media post calling 2026 Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay a "unabashed hater of America and Israel", hours after losing out on the award himself.
The post, shared on Trump's Truth Social account, accused the Nobel committee of damaging the prize's reputation by awarding it to Pillay, a former United Nations high commissioner for human rights who chaired a UN commission that concluded Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, reports Forbes.
It also accused Pillay of having "celebrated terrorists and rewarded Hamas" by leading what the post described as a "phony 'investigation'" into Israel's actions in Gaza.
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The message highlighted Trump's claimed achievements, including the Abraham Accords, which helped normalise relations between Israel and several Arab states, as well as his efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and stop Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions.
Pillay, who learned of her award on Friday while attending an event at the Nuremberg Court in Germany, joked about Trump's repeated pursuit of the prize.
"If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump," she told applauding colleagues, drawing laughter.
Her remark came after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, a previous Nobel laureate, sought to share her prize with Trump. However, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has said a Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred to another person once awarded.
Trump renewed his campaign for the prize earlier this week, telling reporters at the White House that he deserved it because he had "settled eight wars, and big ones". He also said he believed he had helped prevent the world's destruction by ensuring Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon.
"If I don't get it, I think it would be a great discredit to them," Trump said.
After missing out on the prize last year, Trump sent a sharply worded text message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, saying he no longer felt obliged to think "purely of Peace" because Norway had not awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize. He also linked global security to the United States having "Complete and Total Control of Greenland".
Ahead of Friday's announcement, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan had nominated Trump for the award, crediting him with helping bring Pakistan and India back from the brink of conflict and secure a ceasefire.
Pillay, a human rights lawyer, served as the UN high commissioner for human rights from 2008 to 2014. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said she was chosen for her role in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.
The committee cited her early work defending Nelson Mandela in South Africa and her work as a judge at the International Court of Justice in a case in which Myanmar is accused of genocide.
Pillay chaired the UN commission that concluded in a report published last year that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has rejected the finding.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned Pillay's Nobel win on Friday, accusing the committee of using the award to legitimise what it called anti-Israel hatred and prejudice.
In her response to the award, Pillay dedicated the prize to survivors of international crimes and those defending international justice. She also said political leaders had a legal obligation to protect human rights and refrain from war.
