Trump misses the Nobel again

There is a little (or big) problem with being Donald Trump. You can be the president of the United States, command the attention of the world and believe that you deserve almost every prize on earth. But there is one small detail. You cannot simply award the prize to yourself.

The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize has gone to Navi Pillay. She is an 85-year-old South African lawyer and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. And, if you ask me, this time the Nobel Committee has made a choice that is difficult to argue against.

Pillay has spent decades defending human rights, challenging racial injustice and promoting international law. Her life story is not about collecting awards. It is about doing difficult work, often against powerful people.

President Trump has made no secret of his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He has repeatedly spoken about his efforts to settle international conflicts and argued that his achievements deserve recognition.

He has also received nominations from political supporters and foreign leaders. Pakistan’s government, for example, backed his candidacy, crediting him with helping reduce tensions between Pakistan and India.

But there is an important distinction: there is no publicly verified evidence that Trump formally nominated himself. Nobel nominations are kept secret for 50 years. Still, his public campaign for the prize has made the subject difficult to ignore.

I sometimes wonder what happens when a man who measures success through victories encounters a committee that refuses to give him one. The answer, it seems, is another year of waiting.

Our own Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif may also have hoped for a different result. The prime minister supported Trump because it believed his diplomatic efforts deserved recognition. That was the government’s position, but a nomination is not a guarantee of victory.

Navi Pillay’s story began in Durban, South Africa, where she was born into a family of Indian Tamil origin. She grew up under apartheid, a system that denied people equal rights because of their race.

In 1967, she became the first woman to establish a law practice in what was then Natal Province. She defended people who opposed apartheid and challenged a system built on racial discrimination.

Later, she became the first Black woman appointed to South Africa’s High Court. She went on to serve as a judge at the international tribunal for Rwanda, which dealt with crimes committed during the 1994 genocide.

Her work helped establish that sexual violence could constitute an act of genocide under international law. From 2008 to 2014, she served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

She later chaired a UN commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. She has also served as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in the case concerning allegations of genocide against Myanmar.

I believe the Nobel Peace Prize should recognise more than the ability of powerful leaders to announce diplomatic successes. It should also recognise those who defend justice when doing so is difficult.

A ceasefire can stop bullets, but peace requires more. It needs fair laws, accountability and protection for people who cannot defend themselves. Without these things, a conflict may end on paper while injustice continues on the ground.

Pillay’s career reflects this wider meaning of peace. Her work has also attracted political criticism, particularly over her involvement in the UN inquiry into the Palestinian territories. That is part of the difficult world of human rights. Investigations can upset governments, but international law cannot depend on whether its findings please those in power.

I do not know whether Trump will ever win the Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps he will. Perhaps he will continue to believe that the committee has failed to recognise his achievements.

But this year, I think the committee has made the right choice.

Pillay’s life reminds us that courage does not always sit behind a presidential desk. Sometimes it stands in a courtroom, challenges an unjust law and speaks for people whom the world would rather forget.