The Daily Journal.- South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, joked on Thursday about sharing her award with U.S. President Donald Trump, alluding to the controversial gesture made last year by María Corina Machado.
“Thank you very much. If you applaud a little more, I might share this prize with Trump,” Pillay said as she arrived at a press conference in Nuremberg, Germany, according to a video that Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard shared on social media.
The jurist was in the German city when the Nobel Committee announced the award. Pillay, a member of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, later held the press conference in the historic courtroom where the trials of leading Nazi war criminals took place.
Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work promoting peace and international law. Throughout her career, she has served as a judge on South Africa’s High Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Her remark recalled Machado’s decision to present Trump with the physical Nobel medal during a visit to Washington. Trump had repeatedly expressed frustration over not receiving the prize, arguing that his diplomatic efforts deserved recognition.
Machado’s decision sparked controversy and prompted the Norwegian Nobel Institute to clarify that the prize belongs exclusively to its recipient and that no one can revoke or transfer it to another person.
So far, the gesture has also failed to secure the political support Machado sought from the Trump administration. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Washington has chosen to back Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela’s interim president, while the opposition leader remains outside the country.
With information from news agencies.
