Trump Claims Venezuelan Nobel Winner Accepted 2025 Peace Prize in ‘My Honor’
US President Donald Trump on Friday responded to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year, asserting that he had provided support to the award recipient, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, on several occasions. The Venezuelan opposition leader reached out to him and accepted the prize “in honour” of him, he stated. “The individual who received the Nobel Prize reached out to me today and stated, ‘I am accepting this in honour of you because you really deserved it’… I did not state, ‘Give it to me’, however. I believe she may have… I have been assisting her throughout the journey. Venezuela required substantial assistance during the disaster. I am happy because I saved millions of lives…” Trump said while speaking to reporters at the White House.
Machado received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in advocating for democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her commitment to achieving a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy. Trump, who anticipated being awarded the prize for his endeavors to “end seven wars,” also associated the situation in Ukraine with his wider assertions of peacemaking. “I said, ‘Well, what about the seven others?’ “I should get a Nobel Prize for each one.” They remarked, ‘but if you halt the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, sir, you ought to be in line for the Nobel.’ I stated that I halted seven wars. “That’s one war, and that’s a big one,” he told the gathering, listing conflicts he said were halted under his leadership, including “Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Congo.”
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. In a post, he stated, “Give @realDonaldTrump the Nobel Peace Prize – he deserves it!” The Norwegian Nobel Committee characterized Maria Corina Machado as a “brave and committed champion of peace” and noted that the Prize has been awarded to a “woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness. Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace.” Nevertheless, we inhabit a world where democracy is receding, as an increasing number of authoritarian regimes confront established norms and turn to violence. “Machado has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people,” the Committee stated. “The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world.” Across the globe, we observe consistent patterns: the rule of law manipulated by those in power, independent media suppressed, dissenters incarcerated, and communities driven towards authoritarian governance and militarization.
“In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair,” the Nobel Committee said. “Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado has demonstrated that the instruments of democracy serve as instruments of peace. She embodies the hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard,” it said. The selection committee stated that Machado meets all three criteria outlined in Alfred Nobel’s will for the selection of a Peace Prize laureate. Trump states that the Venezuelan Nobel laureate has accepted the 2025 Peace Prize in ‘my honour.’
