Donald Trump’s often stated wish to win the Nobel Peace Prize has not come true, at least this year, with the news Friday that the 2025 prize has gone not to the president, but rather to María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan democracy activist and opposition leader.
Machado was praised by the Nobel committee for keeping “the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness” and “for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” The White House criticized the choice, with Communications Director Steven Cheung calling it “political,” but Trump has praised Machado in the past, as the two of them share the goal of a new regime in Venezuela.
Reporter: Why didn’t Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize?
Nobel committee chair: We only give the award to people of courage and integrity. pic.twitter.com/MDqOItA9Uu
— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) October 10, 2025
The Nobel committee does not typically comment on why certain contenders were not chosen. But at a press conference on Friday, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, was asked by a reporter about Trump’s “campaign-like activity” for the prize.
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His answer did not refer to Trump by name, but it did imply that the award tends to go to individuals with “both courage and integrity.”
“In the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think this committee has seen many types of campaign and media attention. We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year from people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace,” Frydnes answered in the press conference. “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.”
In addition to his campaigning for the award, Trump has been “nominated” for the Nobel Peace Prize by various members of Congress and world leaders. But the bar for nominating one for the Peace Prize is fairly low; essentially, anyone who holds elected office in any country, or a role with an NGO, can write a letter nominating whoever they want, and that person is considered a “nominee.”
In addition, the current eligibility period for the Nobel Peace Prize ended in January, just days after Trump’s return to office, so almost none of the actions of his presidency fall within the period for this year’s award.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
