(Alex Brandon/AP photo)
María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s pre-eminent opposition figure, claimed the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a symbolic rebuke to those who backed President Donald Trump’s late push for the accolade.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee honored Machado as a “brave and committed champion of peace” who “keeps the flame of democracy burning during a growing darkness,” according to Nobel Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes.
The decision comes just days after Israel and Hamas approved the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, an outcome some had suggested could bolster Trump’s case.
Pro-Trump voices, including Israeli hostages’ families, publicly urged the committee to recognize his 20-point Gaza peace plan, claiming he had “brought us light through our darkest times.” Yet those calls were, in effect, too little, too late.
Trump’s campaign for this prize has long been overt. He has repeatedly claimed credit for ending “seven wars,” but scholars had warned that the powerful blend of pressure and self-promotion rarely plays well in Nobel spheres.
The prize rules are clear: nominations closed in January, meaning this year’s Gaza deal would not have influenced deliberations. Trump’s backers, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, MAGA influencers, and GOP members of Congress had pushed for his nomination.
That leaves Machado, long disqualified, threatened, and forced into hiding, as this year’s laureate.
The post No, Trump Did Not Win the Nobel Peace Prize — Here’s Who Did first appeared on Mediaite.
