Nobel Peace Prize 2025: Why Was Donald Trump Not Picked For The Award? Hear It From Committee's Chairman

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday announced that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for 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.”

Why Was Trump Rejected?

Following the announcement of Nobel Peace Prize 2025, the committee’s chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes was asked by a reporter why US President Donald Trump, who had multiple times publicly claimed he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, was not selected.

The chairman’s firm response was that the committee’s decision was not influenced by campaigns or publicity. 

"In the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think this committee has seen any type of campaign, media attention, we receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what for them leads to peace. 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,” the chairman said.

Trump’s Nobel Prize Hope Shattered

US President Donald Trump has time and again expressed his belief that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. He has taken credit for ending several global conflicts, including the Abraham Accords that normalised relations between Israel and several Arab states in 2020.

Before the announcement, on Thursday, Trump said, “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.”

However, many of Trump’s nominations reportedly arrived after the February 1 deadline, which made them ineligible for this year’s consideration.

Despite the support of several world leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Trump got rejected.

Nobel’s Legacy and Selection Criteria

The Nobel Peace Prize, first awarded in 1901, was established according to Alfred Nobel’s will, which states the prize should go to the person ‘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’.

Only three sitting US Presidents have won Nobel Peace Prize so far - Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Woodrow Wilson (1919), and Barack Obama (2009). Jimmy Carter received it in 2002,  a full two decades after leaving office. Former Vice President Al Gore received the prize in 2007.

Trump has often criticised Obama’s selection for the Nobel Prize, saying, “He got the prize for doing nothing,” Trump said of Obama on Thursday. “They gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country.”

Why Did Maria Corina Machado win Nobel Peace Prize?

Machado, who has faced threats to her life, continues to live in hiding since January while leading a campaign for free elections and democratic freedoms in Venezuela. The Nobel committee stated that her courage ‘has inspired millions’. Maria Machado becomes the 20th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, of the 112 individuals who have been honoured.

The former opposition presidential candidate was lauded for being a “key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government.” The Nobel Committee stated, “This is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy: our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even though we disagree. At a time when democracy is under threat, it is more important than ever to defend this common ground.”

Machado's ally, Edmundo Gonzalez, who lives in exile in Spain, posted a video of him speaking on call with Machado.

“I am in shock,” she said, adding, “I cannot believe it.”

Gonzalez celebrated Machado’s Nobel win in a post on X, calling it a “very well-deserved recognition for the long fight of a woman and of a whole people for our freedom and democracy.”