After news came out that President Donald Trump had missed out on this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, it has been revealed why the president had ‘no chance’ of winning it.
This is despite Trump’s claims that he ‘deserved’ this year’s recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize following his involvement in the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Instead, the prize was awarded to María Corina Machado of Venezuela, who is the Venezuelan opposition leader who disappeared and went into hiding in August 2024 following elections in the preceding month.
Machado won the award for her contributions to promoting democracy in the country, which has been described as a dictatorship by some under its current leader Nicolás Maduro.
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And now the chairperson of the Nobel Prize committee has shared his comment on why Trump would not be walking away with the prize.
Speaking to the press, Jørgen Watne Frydnes was questioned about pressure from the US president and some in the international community to give the award to the 79-year-old, and whether the pressure affected their decision at all.
He replied, noting that ‘in the long history’ of awarding the prize, the committee has experienced all types of ‘media tension’, even receiving thousands of letters each year from those who explain ‘what for them leads to peace’.
Frydnes simply stated: “We base our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel” – the Swedish chemist after whom the award is named.
Writing on social media, the Nobel Prize team explained Machado’s win, saying: “Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where democracy is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norms and resorting to violence.
“Maria Corina Machado – awarded the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize – has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people. The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world. We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation. In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair.”
They added: “In the past year, #NobelPeacePrize laureate Maria Corina Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions of people.
“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist. Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended – with words, with courage and with determination.”