Donald Trump struck back on Friday by resharing a viral post from David Schoen, his former impeachment lawyer, that torches 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay. The text, now amplified by the White House owner, brands the 85-year-old South African jurist an “unabashed hater of America and Israel.”
Schoen’s original critique accused the Norwegian Nobel Committee of a blunder. He alleged Pillay celebrated terrorists and rewarded Hamas, dismissing the UN investigation she led into Israel’s Gaza operations as “phony.” The post pivoted to defending Trump’s own diplomatic record, citing the Abraham Accords and his efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war as the true peace credentials the committee ignored.
The friction ignited after Pillay, speaking to colleagues, joked about the President’s long-standing desire for the prize. “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump,” she quipped, drawing laughter. Trump has failed to secure the honor two years in a row, a snub he has rarely let pass quietly.
Pillay, of Indian Tamil origin and born in Durban during apartheid, won the Nobel for her lifelong push to prosecute war crimes and genocide. As former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, she chaired the commission that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza last year. Israel rejected those findings, but the Nobel Committee highlighted her role in ensuring international accountability. The next round of diplomatic sparring is expected as the Norwegian government reacts to the President’s public rebuke.