White House Criticises Nobel Committee For Not Awarding Peace Prize To Trump

The White House on Friday accused the Nobel committee of playing “politics over peace” and criticised its decision to award the prize to the Venezuelan leader instead of the United States President Donald Trump. Trump had for long been lobbying for the award and also received several high profile nominations. 

Venezuelan opposition leader and pro-democracy activist Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for  her "tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela". 

Trump, however, said that the Nobel Prize winner called him and said she accepted the prize in his honour. A senior White House Official told CBS that Trump also congratulated Maria for the award. 

"The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me, and said, 'I'm accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it,'" Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, Reuters reported. 

"President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives. 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," White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in a post on X.

"The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace."

Trump has claimed to solve multiple global conflicts with his 20-point Gaza peace plan recently coming into action. 

"Will you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not. They'll give it to some guy that didn't do a damn thing," Trump told top U.S. military leaders last month.

Following her win, Machado posted on X stating "I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!"

Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize close on 31 January of each year, according to the awards website, just days after Trump took office.