The Nobel Peace Prize committee has revealed why Donald Trump missed out on this year’s award.
Trump has made it abundantly clear that he feels like he ‘deserves’ the prize on several occasions, and all eyes were on today’s official announcement following the news of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which the US President was heavily involved in.
The award instead went to María Corina Machado of Venezuela, the Venezuelan opposition leader who disappeared and went into hiding in August 2024, following elections in the preceding month.
The chairman of the Nobel Prize committee has now commented on why Trump didn’t walk away with the award, when asked by the press.
Machado wrote a letter from ‘hiding’ to give her thanks to the committee (AFP VIDEOGRAPHICS/AFP via Getty Images)
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the Nobel Peace Committee’s chairman, was asked about the pressure from the US President and some in the international community to give the award to the 79-year-old, and if the pressure affected their decision at all.
He replied, noting that ‘in the long history’ of awarding the prize, the committee has experienced all types of ‘media tension’, even receiving thousands of letters each year from those who explain ‘what for them leads to peace’.
Frydnes simply stated: “We base our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel” – the Swedish chemist after whom the award is named.
Writing on their social media pages, the Nobel Prize team explained Machado’s win, saying: “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.”
Trump had his heart set on the prize (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
They added: “In the past year, #NobelPeacePrize laureate Maria Corina Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions of people.
“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist. Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended – with words, with courage and with determination.”
Following the announcement of the prestigious accolade, the committee stated: “She is receiving 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.”
The award is traditionally given ‘for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses’ in a given year.
It is one of the most prestigious honours anyone can be given.
There were 338 candidates for the award this year, between 244 people and 94 organisations.
Trump won’t be best pleased, especially after claiming he ‘would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds’ if he’d been Barack Obama.
The winner this year is María Corina Machado of Venezuela, who has been honoured for her part in promoting democracy in the country.
“She is receiving 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,” the committee said of their decision to give her the prestigious accolade.
Awarded to the person deemed to have done the most ‘for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses’ in a given year, the Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most celebrated honours a person can receive.
María Corina Machado has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 (Jonathan Lanza/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
It was created in the will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, which he supposedly decided to do after the papers mistakenly published his obituary and called him ‘the merchant of death’ for his explosive creation.
His prizes have certainly turned around his legacy if that was his aim, and the Nobel Peace Prize is pretty much the most prestigious diplomatic award in the world.
This year, there were a total of 338 candidates nominated for the award, split between 244 people and 94 organisations.
Trump previously claimed that he ‘would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds’ if he’d been Barack Obama, and has repeatedly complained about his lack of the award.
There were over 300 nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize this year (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)
Back when a treaty between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo was being signed, he used the opportunity to complain he wasn’t getting one.
He wrote: “This is a Great Day for Africa and, quite frankly, a Great Day for the World! I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for this.
“I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between India and Pakistan … for stopping the War between Serbia and Kosovo … for keeping Peace between Egypt and Ethiopia … and I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for doing the Abraham Accords in the Middle East.”
However, it was never likely to be Trump’s award to win given that nominees for 2025 closed in January, just a few days before Trump’s second term in the White House began.
Donald Trump has made it very, very clear that he really wanted to win a Nobel Peace Prize (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Over the course of 2025, several world leaders have indicated they might nominate Trump for the prize, meaning he could be in the running again next year.
Four previous US presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize, Teddy Roosevelt becoming the first American to win it in 1906 for his part in mediating the end of the Russo-Japanese war.
Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize in 1919 for founding the League of Nations, the precursor to the UN which ultimately failed to avert the Second World War.
The first former US president to win it was Jimmy Carter, who got it in 2002 over two decades after he’d left the White House, while Barack Obama received it in 2009 during the first year of his presidency.
The US president announced on Wednesday (8 October) afternoon, while speaking at the White House, that a peace deal is ‘very close’ following separate lengthy discussions with Israel and Hamas.
According to the White House, Trump is even ‘considering travelling to the Middle East in the next few days’. It comes following reports that a Palestinian official claimed that a seven-hour talk with the Hamas delegation and Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators came to a conclusion.
If the deal is officially approved by the Israeli government, it’s believed that a possible end to the war between the nation and Palestine could be reached.
They are set to meet today (9 October) to approve the deal, with a ceasefire set to go into effect immediately.
The Israel-Palestine conflict has caused inreparable damage to Gaza in particular (Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)
It was revealed that mediators are meeting Israel’s delegation to iron out the finer details, though the president took time to speak with relatives of Israeli hostages in Washington, DC, to state that their family members will be back with them on Monday (13 October).
Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan.
“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.”
He added on the social media platform: “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.”
What will happen if the Hamas-Israel agreement is approved?
It’s been reported that the peace agreement would see Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners released, while Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.
The entry of aid into Gaza will also be greenlit.
Once the Israeli government formally agrees to the terms in the peace deal, a ceasefire will begin (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Israel’s government is said to be meeting this afternoon at 2.00pm Jerusalem time (12.00 BST), with their approval the only thing standing in the way of the peace deal going into full effect.
While Hamas has confirmed the deal, the BBC reports that Palestine has not yet been given the final list of prisoners who Israel plans to release.
There are still crucial details which still need to be worked out between all parties, but with the ‘first steps’ agreed upon, it could mark a turning point for the region.
Featured Image Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Israel, US News, Politics, World News, Palestine
President Trump, 79, was hosting a roundtable event with conservative influencers and journalists where they discussed the likes of Antifa – a leaderless affiliation of mostly far-left activists – as Marco Rubio, 54, stood in the corner of the Blue Room on Wednesday (8 October).
Rubio wanted to pass on some important news to the Republican leader, but Trump initially pushed back and wanted to carry on with the event, which had been going on for an hour at that point.
Although Trump signalled that he would prefer for it to wait until after the media had left the room, his colleague instead decided to pass on a note.
Despite possible attempts to keep it hidden, an AP photographer managed to capture a zoomed-in photo of the handwritten note on White House stationery.
Marco Rubio handed president Trump a note during the White House event (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
It read: “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”
After giving it a quick glance, Trump announced to the room: “I was just given a note by the Secretary of State saying that we’re very close to a deal on the Middle East, and they’re gonna need me pretty quickly.
“So we’ll take a couple of more questions.”
The note came after Trump said he plans to travel to the Middle East ‘towards the end of the week’, as peace talks between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas continue.
But even after the President told journalists that he was leaving, he continued to talk and take questions.
10 minutes later, he said: “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East — although I’m very well represented by our secretary of state. He could probably do an even better job than me, but who knows?
Trump said he would have to leave immediately after reading the note (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“We don’t want to take any chances. So we’re going to go and do that.”
Trump then said Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would take questions in his absence.
“We’re gonna get peace in the Middle East,” he added. “That’s what we want to do.”
Taking to Truth Social afterwards, he announced that ‘Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan’.
He said the hostages will be released ‘very soon’ and that Israel with withdraw their army ‘to an agreed-upon line’.
The president added: “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.
