The Nobel Peace Prize committee has revealed exactly why President Donald Trump didn’t win this year’s prestigious award, despite Trump himself openly suggesting he should have.
Earlier today it was announced that the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient is Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan leader of the opposition who was forced into hiding in August 2024 after the country’s elections.
Machado has long been championed for her tireless fight for democracy in her country, with the Norwegian Nobel Committee announcing on X:
”The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize to Maria Corina Machado 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.”
Machado, a politician and industrial engineer, has been a leading voice against President Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
Despite being banned from running for office and facing repeated threats, she has continued to push for democratic reforms and free elections in Venezuela. The award is expected to strengthen the opposition’s efforts, though it will likely provoke anger from Maduro’s government. The Nobel Prize ceremony is set for December 10 in Oslo, Norway.
There will be many publicly celebrating Machado’s recognition, but it’s highly likely Donald Trump won’t be among them.
The POTUS has long touted his own suitability for the coveted award, stating during February meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House:
”They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”
In August he regurgitated the claim that he is responsible for ending a number of conflicts around the globe. Speaking in August at a summit with Ukrainian and European leaders, Trump said:
“I’ve done six wars, I’ve ended six wars. If you look at the six deals I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn’t do any ceasefires.”
This week Trump arguably did more to help his Nobel Peace Prize cause than ever before, playing an active role in the ceasefire and peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
Yet it’s no secret that he was gunning for the Nobel Peace Prize, and the chairman of the Nobel Prize committee has now shed some light as to why he didn’t.
“We base our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel,” said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the Nobel Peace Committee’s chairman. She had been asked about the pressure Trump and others have put on the committee to hand the US president the award.
Explaining Machado’s win on their social media pages, the Nobel Prize team explained: “Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where democracy is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norms and resorting to violence.
“Maria Corina Machado – awarded the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize – has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people. The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world. We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation. In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair.”
Should Trump have won the Nobel Peace Prize? Let us know in the comments.