Nobel Peace Prize To Be Announced On October 10; Can Trump Win?

The 2025 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, October 10. The Nobel Committee does not confirm the names of nominees, neither to the media nor to the candidates themselves. 

However, this year, there are 338 candidates nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, including 244 individuals and 94 organisations.

There were 286 nominees in 2024. 

The highest number of nominees was in 2016 with 376 candidates.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is tasked with selecting the laureates for the Nobel Peace Prize. Nominations may be submitted by individuals who are qualified to do so. The Committee consists of five members appointed by the Storting, Norway’s parliament.

Unlike the other Nobel Prizes — in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economic Sciences — which are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, the Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo, Norway.

This year, the most talked about name for the category is of the US President Donald Trump, who has made it clear on multiple occasions that “deserves” the award. Among those who have submitted nominations to the Norwegian award committee are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet for halting border conflict with Thailand.

In the US, Congressman Buddy Carter also nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, "in recognition of his historic role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Iran."

However, these nominations came after the January 31 deadline. More names can be added during the final meeting of the members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which this year was held on February 28. 

When asked if Trump could win the Nobel, Trump said at the White House, "I have no idea... Marco would tell you we settled seven wars. We're close to settling an eighth. I think we'll end up settling the Russia situation... I don't think anybody in history has settled that many. But perhaps they'll find a reason not to."

In the past, four U.S. presidents have received the Nobel Peace Prize: Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Woodrow Wilson (1919), Jimmy Carter (2002), and Barack Obama (2009).

All were awarded the prize while in office, except Carter, who received it retrospectively for mediating the 1978 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Obama was honoured just nine months into his presidency for "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

Pope Francis too has been nominated for the prize. However, the Nobel Peace Prize has never been awarded posthumously. Norway's Dag Inge Ulstein of the Christian Democratic Party had nominated him for "his unstoppable contribution to promoting binding and comprehensive peace and fraternity between people, people groups and states.” 

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently in jail, has also been nominated by members of the Pakistan World Alliance and the Norwegian political party Partiet Sentrum. Previously, he was nominated in 2019.

Sentrum posted on X, "We are pleased to announce on behalf of Partiet Sentrum that in alliance with somebody with the right to nominate, we have nominated Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, to the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with human rights and democracy in Pakistan."

Another nominee is Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla. Branko Grims, a European Parliament member from Slovenia, stated that his nomination had been submitted for his defence of "the fundamental human right of freedom of speech and peace."

"The proposal that Mr. Elon Musk, for his consistent support for the fundamental human right of freedom of speech and thus for peace, receives the Nobel Peace Prize 2025, was successfully submitted today," he added.

The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901. When Swedish businessman Alfred Nobel died in 1896, he left behind one of the world’s largest private fortunes at the time. In his will, Nobel stated that his entire remaining fortune of 31.5 million Swedish crowns should be invested in secure assets to create a fund "the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."

The will also specified the fields in which the prizes were to be awarded — physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature and peace — and outlined the criteria that each respective prize committee should use when selecting recipients.