White House criticises Nobel Committee for snubbing President Trump

The White House on Friday sharply criticised the Nobel Committee’s decision to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado instead of US President Donald Trump.

“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,” White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a post on X.

Cheung added, “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”

Machado honoured for democracy advocacy

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Machado was selected “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.”

Machado, a prominent critic of President Nicolás Maduro, has faced imprisonment, disqualification from public office, and repeated threats from Venezuelan authorities.

Her recognition marks a significant acknowledgement of the country’s pro-democracy movement.

Trump's pursuit of the Nobel Prize

President Trump has not publicly commented on the decision but posted three videos on his Truth Social account on Friday showing supporters celebrating the Gaza peace deal, which the administration has touted as a major diplomatic breakthrough.

Since returning to the White House, Trump’s team has mounted a concerted campaign to influence the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), an advisory body to the Nobel selection process.

That effort intensified in the hours leading up to Friday’s announcement.

The push coincided with news of a landmark peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, which could potentially end the war in Gaza.

Trump’s allies immediately seized on the development, arguing that he should have received the award.

“Everybody has been talking about: ‘Will he get the Nobel Peace Prize?’” said Representative Brian Mast (R-Fla.) on Fox News.

“Those academics and elites sitting in Norway — that board of people that decide it — they need to give President Trump the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Mast added, “I’m not certain that the board in Norway believes in peace through strength. They believe in peace through pandering.”

While publicly downplaying expectations, Trump is said to have privately continued to lobby for the award.

Over the summer, he reportedly phoned Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s finance minister, to discuss “the Nobel Peace Prize … and tariffs.”

Trump has frequently invoked the Nobel Peace Prize in his speeches, often claiming credit for ending “six or seven wars” since returning to office.

“If I were named Obama, I would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds,” Trump said last year on the campaign trail.