The Nobel Peace Prize, first awarded in 1901, was created partly to encourage ongoing peace efforts. Alfred Nobel stipulated in his will that the prize should go to someone “who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
The White House is responding bitterly to U.S. President Donald Trump being passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize despite efforts from Republicans and some world leaders. It also did not comment on Venezuelan Opposition leader María Corina Machado’s recognition. Trump has been outspoken about his desire for the honour during his 2nd presidential tenure. The White House responded bitterly, with communications director Steven Cheung saying members of “the Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace” because they didn’t recognise Mr. Trump. “He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” Cheung wrote on social media.
Ms. María Corina Machado of Venezuela was awarded the much sought-after prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was honouring her “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
The White House did not comment on Ms. Machado’s recognition. Her opposition to President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela aligns with the Trump administration’s own stance on Venezuela, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has praised her as “the personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism.”
Trump, who has long coveted the prestigious prize, has been outspoken about his desire for the honour during both of his presidential terms, particularly lately as he takes credit for ending conflicts around the world. The Republican President has expressed doubts that the Nobel committee would ever grant him the award. “They’ll have to do what they do. Whatever they do is fine. I know this: I didn’t do it for that. I did it because I saved a lot of lives,” Trump said after the prize was conferred on Machado.
The Hostages Families Forum in Israel issued a statement continuing to support Donald Trump. “President Trump’s unprecedented achievements in peacemaking this past year speak for themselves, and no award or lack thereof can diminish the profound impact he has had on our families and on global peace,” it said.
Although Trump received nominations for the prize, many of them occurred after the February 1 deadline for the 2025 award, which fell just a week and a half into his second term. His name was, however, put forward in December by Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York, her office said in a statement, for his brokering of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and several Arab states in 2020.
Nevertheless, Trump and his supporters are likely to view the decision to pass over him for the award as a deliberate affront to the U.S. leader, particularly after his involvement in getting Israel and Hamas to initiate the first phase of ending their devastating two-year-old war.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the committee has seen various campaigns in its long history of awarding the peace prize. “We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what for them leads to peace,” he said. “This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates, and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. So, we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”
Three sitting U.S. Presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize till date. Those who received the coveted prize are Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, Woodrow Wilson in 1919 and Barack Obama in 2009. Jimmy Carter won the prize in 2002, a full two decades after leaving office. Former Vice President Al Gore also received the prize in 2007. Democrat and former US President Barack Obama, who was a focus of Donald Trump’s attacks well before the Republican was elected, won the prize early in his tenure as president. “He got the prize for doing nothing,” frustrated Trump said of Barack Obama. “They gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country.”
As one of his reasons for deserving the award, Donald Trump often says he has ended seven wars, though some of the conflicts the President claims to have resolved were merely tensions and his role in easing them is disputed. But while there is hope for the end to Israel and Hamas’s war, with Israel saying a ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into effect only recently, much remains uncertain about the aspects of the broader plan, including whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza. And little progress seems to have been made on Russia’s war in Ukraine, a conflict Trump claimed during the 2024 campaign that he could end in one day — he later said he made that remark in jest.
The full list of people nominated is secret, but anyone who submits a nomination is free to talk about it. Others who formally submitted a nomination for Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize — but after this year’s deadline — include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Pakistan’s government, all citing his work in helping end conflicts in their regions.
We the Indians know, how Trump claimed to have ended Indian attack on Pakistan, while we started operation Sindoor – a retaliation against Pakistan sponsored terrorism, destroying the terrorist training camps inside Pakistan. While Trump never played his role to end terrorism, he claimed not less than seven times to have helped ending a possible nuclear war! The quest for Noble Peace Prize by the heart of a humanitarian has been exposed now.
