Trump Faces Nobel Prize Mockery After Pillay Wins Peace Award

President Donald Trump faced renewed criticism over his longstanding pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize after South African human rights lawyer and judge Navanethem "Navi" Pillay received the honor and publicly joked about sharing it with him. Pillay's remarks and Trump's history of resentment over Barack Obama's 2009 award were discussed on The Daily Beast Podcast by hosts Joanna Coles and Hugh Dougherty.

The Nobel committee described Pillay as "one of the most respected international jurists of our time." The 85-year-old, who led a United Nations commission that concluded last year that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, dedicated the award to people affected by international crimes and those defending international justice.

During her acceptance speech, Pillay made a pointed reference to the US president's desire for the distinction.

"If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump," Pillay said.

The remarks drew attention to Trump's repeated complaints that Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

Dougherty said the contrast between the two presidents remained central to Trump's frustration.

"It lives in his mind," Dougherty said.

He expanded on his assessment, connecting Trump's dissatisfaction to Obama's recognition early in his presidency.

"And of course we know why it lives in his mind: It’s because ‘Barack Hussein Obama’ got it and ‘Donald J. Trump’ did not," Dougherty said.

Trump renewed his criticism of Obama's award on Wednesday, questioning the former president's qualifications for receiving it.

"Obama got it, and he didn’t do anything," Trump said.

He continued by challenging the reasoning behind the committee's decision.

"He still doesn’t know what he got it for. He got it when he got elected, right at the beginning, and he had no idea why he got it," Trump said.

Dougherty also linked the episode to Trump's sensitivity toward public ridicule. He recalled the president's repeated emphasis on restoring America's standing on the international stage.

"One of the obsessions that Trump has had is that the world was laughing at America before he became president," Dougherty said. "And I think people will remember when he went to the United Nations and said, ‘People used to laugh at us. They’re not laughing anymore.’ And people started laughing at him."

Trump drew laughter from dignitaries at the United Nations in 2018 after claiming his administration had accomplished more than "almost any" of his predecessors.

Dougherty said the reaction to Pillay's joke could aggravate the president further.

"There’s nothing that gets up in his feelings like people laughing at him," Dougherty said.

He added that Trump's response could be particularly strong given the public nature of the criticism.

"He’s going to be furious," Dougherty said.

Trump later shared a post from an ally arguing that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize more than Pillay. Hours after her victory was announced Friday, his administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court, where Pillay had previously served as a judge.

Coles discussed Trump's efforts to obtain the award and his interactions with Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado, who won the prize last year and later gave it to Trump after the United States captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The Nobel committee has stated that the award cannot be revoked, shared or transferred.

Coles said Trump had sought formal recognition through the Nobel committee rather than the circumstances surrounding Machado's decision.

"Of course he was hoping he would win the Nobel Peace Prize and get it in a bona fide way as opposed to what happened to him last year when he snatched it practically out of the hands of Venezuela’s Machado and then, of course, dismissed her and said she wasn’t popular enough, and got in bed with Nicolas Maduro’s number two, Delcy Rodríguez," Coles said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.