Donald Trump has hit out at the Nobel committee, branding its members 'enemies of civilisation' after he was overlooked for the Nobel Peace Prize for another year.
The US President directed his latest verbal attack at Norway hours after the committee awarded this year's prize to Navi Pillay, a former International Criminal Court judge who sat on the panel that concluded Israel had committed a genocide in Gaza.
Trump criticises winner as 'mystery person'
In his latest rant about the award, Trump complained that the judge was unknown, labelling her a 'mystery person'. Speaking at a rally in Syracuse, New York, he said: 'I never heard of the person. Nobody did.'
Each year of his presidency, Trump has expressed disappointment at his failure to win the prize. He said: 'This is an indelible stain on the country of Norway and those people that made such a disgraceful and embarrassing decision.'
President lists conflicts he claims to have resolved
The president then rattled off a list of conflicts he claimed to have resolved or prevented from occurring, including North and South Korea, Japan and North Korea, and China and Taiwan.
'The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilization. And we will not forget, Norway', he continued.
Trump reiterated he would soon fix the wars in Russia and Ukraine, as well as in Iran. 'We're going to get that all done. And that's happening quickly', he said.
Political battles ahead
'Despite all of this, and all of these unbelievable accomplishments, the Nobel Prize was given out today to a liberal person who works at the United Nations who nobody has ever heard of.'
Trump lost out on last year's prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who remains in exile and ended up dedicating her award to the US president.
It comes as the president faces a fight to hang on to control of Congress, with polling showing Republicans on track to lose the House of Representatives and with the Senate at risk of flipping as well. A loss of both houses would see Trump's legislative agenda face significant roadblocks, curb his fiscal powers and raise the possibility of him being impeached a third time as president.
