"If You Applaud Any More, I May Have to Share the Prize with Trump": Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Pillay's Barbed Joke

"Your applause means a lot... It means you agree I deserve it": A jab at Trump
At 85, Pillay responds to award news with humor... speaks out amid crises in international law and human rights

Navi Pillay, 85, an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) who was selected as this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, joked, "If you applaud any more, I may have to share this prize with Trump."

Navi Pillay (85), an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), selected as this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Nobel Committee

In a roughly three-minute video posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard on October 9 (local time), Judge Pillay is seen receiving news of the award while visiting Germany to attend a Nuremberg Forum event. Surrounded by colleagues, she was congratulated on her selection. "This must be a joke," she said, before adding wittily, "If you applaud any more, I may have to share this prize with Trump."

"Your applause means a lot," she said. "Because if the public doesn't agree that you deserve it, you don't want to receive the award. So, thank you." Her remarks appeared to take a dig at U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly claimed that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Navi Pillay (85), an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has been selected as this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate. AFP-Yonhap News Agency

Recalling her work as chair of the independent international commission of inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate alleged human rights abuses and violations of international law in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, she said, "The last thing I did was report that what is happening in Gaza is genocide." She added, "The main response to that report was tributes to my courage. It's astonishing that it takes courage to tell the truth."

Pillay said she turned 85 last month and added, "I'm being asked when I'm going to stop, but I can't stop helping bring about new achievements." She thanked those present again, saying, "I hope this isn't a joke."

According to AFP, Judge Pillay held a press conference that day at the Nuremberg courthouse in Germany, where the trials of Nazi leaders indicted after World War II took place. "We are living in an era in which international law and human rights are under serious political attack," she said. "This is clearly evident in the attacks on the International Criminal Court (ICC)." Last month, Trump called the ICC a "rogue institution" and urged all member states to withdraw.

The Nobel Committee said Pillay, a South African human rights lawyer, played an important role in advancing the international justice system to hold those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide accountable, at a time when the international legal order is facing political pressure.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.