Washington: US President Donald Trump’s long-standing quest for the Nobel Peace Prize hit another wall on Friday when the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 honour to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, bypassing the firebrand leader despite his fervent claims of deserving it for brokering ceasefires in Gaza and Ukraine.
The snub, coming just months into his second term, has ignited a fresh wave of White House fury, with aides decrying the decision as “politics over peace”.
Experts point to several reasons why Trump missed out. Nominations for the 2025 prize closed on January 31— mere days after his inauguration — rendering post-inauguration endorsements from figures like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Pakistan’s government invalid. Moreover, the award recognises 2024 achievements, a year when Trump was campaigning, not governing. Critics, including Nobel historians, argue his unilateral style clashes with Alfred Nobel’s vision of fostering “fraternity between nations” through multilateral cooperation. Trump’s climate scepticism and self-lobbying further dimmed his prospects, as past winners like Barack Obama embodied global unity.
Undeterred, Trump revealed that Machado personally called him post-announcement, insisting he “deserved” the prize. “She told me I should have won it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, listing his diplomatic feats from the Abraham Accords to recent war halts.
The White House echoed the sentiment, with Communications Director Steven Cheung slamming the Committee on X for prioritising “politics.” Yet, in a twist, Machado dedicated her award to Trump and the Venezuelan people, praising his “decisive support” for democracy against Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
The irony hasn’t escaped MAGA loyalists, who flooded social media with outrage, calling Machado a “random nobody”. As Trump eyes future nods — perhaps for 2026 — the episode underscores his polarising global image: a hero to allies, a hurdle to the Nobel’s ideals.
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