President Donald Trump was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday despite his desperate lobbying campaign for the honor he craves above all others.
Instead, the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave the prize to María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan democracy campaigner and staunch critic of the country’s leader, President Nicolás Maduro.
“She is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for our struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” announced Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the committee’s chairman.
Machado has been fighting against Maduro after supporting her ally Edmundo González Urrutia in last year’s election. The U.S. recognized González as the winner of the race, but Maduro claimed victory and has remained in power.
She has been in hiding for months fearing political persecution and threats to her life. Despite being a hugely influential opposition figure, the Venezuelan government has completely barred her from holding public office, ultimately preventing her from appearing on the ballot in the 2024 presidential election.
In April, Machado was included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Trump has been openly pining for a Nobel Peace Prize for years and has kept up his crusade in his second term, claiming he has helped end seven international conflicts since returning to office. This includes stopping conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia—which the president frequently confuses with Albania—and between India and Pakistan.
The campaign intensified after the president took credit for brokering a ceasefire in Gaza, aiming to halt the two-year war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, just two days before the Nobel Prize announcement.
However, the Norwegian committee that decided who would receive the prestigious honor would have likely made its decision weeks before the peace deal in Gaza was announced.
During Friday’s announcement, Frydnes was asked by a reporter if Trump’s all-out campaigning for a Peace Prize “affected the deliberations and the thinking” of the panel.
“We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year from people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace,” Frydnes replied. “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 our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”
On the eve of the Peace Prize winner being declared, Trump went on a posting spree on Truth Social, sharing links and articles suggesting he is deserving of such an honor.
Trump also raged against his old nemesis, former president Barack Obama, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, suggesting on Thursday that the former president got the award for “nothing.”
“He got elected, and they gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country,” Trump said.
Trump was so desperate to be awarded the prize that he called Norway’s finance minister, Jens Stoltenberg, to ask him to campaign on the president’s behalf, Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv reported in August.
Asle Toje, deputy leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said in September that “influence campaigns” are more likely to have a negative impact on how the panel decides who gets the annual award.
“Some candidates push for it really hard and we do not like it,” Toje told Reuters. “We are used to work in a locked room without being attempted to be influenced. It is hard enough as it is to reach an agreement among ourselves, without having more people trying to influence us.”
Trump received support from multiple allies to be given the honor, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who nominated him for the Peace Prize in July after the president facilitated a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
On Thursday, Netanyahu also shared an AI-generated image of himself awarding Trump a comically large gold medal, along with the caption: “Give Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize—he deserves it!”
In June, Trump seemed willing to accept that he may not get the Nobel Peace Prize this year, lamenting that it would never be awarded to him “no matter what I do.”
“But the people know, and that’s all that matters to me!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
