Donald Trump claims Nobel Peace Prize winner told him he should have won it

It’s fair to say Donald Trump has been left feeling snubbed after he failed to win the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

The US president was apparently nominated for the prize more than 10 times amid his claims that he’s ‘ended seven unendable wars’.

Yesterday it was announced that Maria Corina Machado, who has ‘stood up for free and fair elections for the last 20 years’ in Venezuela, had won the prestigious prize.

But according to Trump, the true winner actually believes he should have been awarded with the accolade.

While Maria posted on X partially dedicating her award to the US president, she stopped short of saying he should have won it.

It took the president a little while to respond after failing to win the prize, reacting to the perceived snub during a press conference at the Oval Office.

The conference was announcing reduced drug costs thanks to a deal with UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, but he took questions from reporters including one asking how he felt about the Nobel Peace Prize announcement.

Trump began by calling the recent ceasefire and hostage release plan between Israel and Hamas ‘the most important deal ever made in terms of peace’.

This is despite the deal being very much a work in progress, as no hostages have been released and Israel haven’t fully withdrawn from Gaza yet.

What has Trump said about the Nobel Peace Prize winner?

Trump then went on to discuss the other seven ‘wars’ he claims to have ended during his second term, before bringing up Maria Corina Machado, who won the prize.

He said: ‘The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me and said “I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it”. A very nice thing to do.

‘I didn’t say “then give it to me”, though I think she might have.

‘She was very nice. And I’ve been, you know, I’ve been helping her along the way.

‘She — they need a lot of help in Venezuela, it’s a basic disaster.’

Following the announcement on Friday Trump shared a number of videos on his Truth Social account related to other news stories, pointedly avoiding the topic of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Steven Cheung, a White House spokesman, criticised the decision, saying: ‘President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives.

‘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.

‘The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.’

Who won the Nobel Peace Prize this year and for what?

Maria Corina Machado has won the prize for promoting the democratic rights of the people of Venezuela, having spent 20 years ‘working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people’.

Having received threats from the government and been forced to live in hiding, Maria chose to remain in her country in a move which has ‘inspired millions’.

As well as the Nobel Peace Prize, she also won the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize and Sakharov Prize last year.

Discussing the reason for Maria’s win, the committee said: ‘When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.

‘She has shown the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope of a different future.

‘She won 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.’

Who nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and for what?

Trump was apparently nominated for the prize more than 10 times, including by Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Trump’s role in ending the conflict between Israel and Iran.

US Republican Representative Earl ‘Buddy’ Carter also said he nominated Trump over the Israel-Iran ceasefire.

President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was also reportedly considering nominating him after Trump helped negotiate a peace deal between his country and Rwanda.

The governments of Pakistan and Cambodia also reportedly nominated Trump for the prize.

How is the Nobel Peace Prize winner decided?

The Nobel committee chose Maria Corina Machado from more than 338 nominations – 244 individuals and 94 organisations.

The committee awards the peace prize to the person or organisation who in the preceding year ‘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 winner is then chosen through a majority vote by the committee.

However, the names of nominees are never confirmed publicly, whether to the candidates themselves nor to the media.

If a name is announced, this is usually either due to speculation or after individuals announce they have nominated specific candidates.

The favourite for this year’s prize was Mr Zelensky alongside Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Which former US presidents have received the Nobel Peace Prize and for what?

If Trump had won the Nobel Peace Prize, he would have been the fifth American president to receive it.

Previous US presidents to win the prize were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, Woodrow Wilson in 1919, Jimmy Carter in 2002, and Barack Obama in 2009 – whom Trump sees as direct competition.

Roosevelt won the prize for his efforts to end war between Russia and Japan, making him the first American to win it.

Wilson was awarded the prize thanks to his efforts setting up the League of Nations in an attempt to maintain world peace after World War I.

Jimmy Carter was awarded the prize ‘for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development’.

And Barack Obama was given the prize ‘for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples’.

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