International Politics

WASHINGTON DC - The White House has responded after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuela’s opposition leader instead of Donald Trump.

“The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” said Steven Cheung, the President’s director of communication. Maria Corina Machado was announced as the prize’s 2025 winner yesterday.

She was honoured ‘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,’ said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo. The announcement came as Israel’s military declared the Gaza ceasefire agreement had now come into effect, following a vote in the cabinet last night.

The US president’s name, heavily floated in the media in recent weeks, did not make the final cut.

“President Trump will continue making peace deals around the world, ending wars and saving lives,” Cheung added.

“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.”

In the months leading up to the decision, Trump had vigorously pitched himself as a peacemaker. He offered himself as a bridge builder, pointed to his 20-point Gaza plan and repeatedly insisted he had ended multiple wars.

The two-time US president has been on a not-so-subtle Nobel Prize campaign since his first term in office when he claimed ‘many people’ thought he had earned it.

Both sides have agreed to the first phase of Trump’s plan to pause fighting and release hostages in Gaza, a deal that could open the way to ending a brutal conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Nobel Peace Committee’s chairman was quizzed by reporters about the impact of Trump’s campaign to win the distinguished prize, and the mounting speculation surrounding whether he’d be successful.

Frydnes responded diplomatically, batting the question away.

“In the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize, this committee has seen (every) type of campaign,” he said. “We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year, of people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace. This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with courage and integrity. We base our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel,’’ he said.

The White House has responded after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuela’s opposition leader instead of Donald Trump. (Pic: Axios)