Why Donald Trump Lost Out On Nobel Prize Even After Gaza’s Israel-Hamas Peace Deal

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced the Nobel Peace Prize, and sadly, it was not Donald Trump, but María Corina Machado. There has been persistent speculation ahead of the announcement about the possibility of the prize going to U.S. President Donald Trump, fueled in part by the president himself. This seems to be the biggest snub for Trump as he 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. He 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 Thursday. As one of his reasons for deserving the award, 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.

 The Norwegian Nobel Committee answers why Donald Trump lost to María Corina Machado

After announcing the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the committee answered several questions from the press. Among them was a journalist who asked about why they didn't select Trump as a winner. “But during the past months, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and he'd like to have it. He even said that it would be an insult to the United States if he didn't get it. What does your, as chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, think of this, and how has this campaign-like activity by the president and his supporters domestically and internationally affected the deliberations and the thinking in the committee?” asked the journalist.

To this, the chairman replied, “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 from 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.”

Although Trump received a number of 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 first term. 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. His name was, however, put forth 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. Three sitting U.S. presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize: 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 received the prize in 2007.

Meanwhile, Maria Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize 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. As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.

Also Read: Not Trump, María Corina Machado Venezuela's Democracy Rights Activist Wins 2025 Nobel Peace Prize