No Nobel Prize For Trump, An Angry President Who Has Been Demanding It

It's a distressful day for Donald Trump. After months of the US President claiming to be the most deserving contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced a "brave woman" as this year's winner. Maria Corina Machado has won the Nobel for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy, the Committee said.

There was no word on Trump. And rightfully so.

Trump is yet to comment on being skipped by the Nobel committee, but an angry rant is expected in all likelihood, especially after his repeated claims that he helped stop seven wars worldwide to emerge as a global peacemaker.

The White House echoed him and pushed what was nothing short of a campaign that screamed Trump's praises day in and day out. Hours earlier, it shared a photo showing Trump in a blue suit and yellow tie, walking down the White House corridors. 'The Peace President', read the caption.

Nobel Campaign From Oval

Trump claimed his Oval Office was the center of all peace agreements across the world for months. Even before taking office in January, he had started pushing for negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict. Though an end to the conflicts is still not in sight.

What he claimed to achieve during his first few months in office was to stop seven wars. Among those were the conflicts between India and Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand, Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, Serbia and Kosovo, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

His repeated claim that he stopped the India-Pakistan war in May fell flat before India's rebuttals, but he didn't relent. Not once, not twice, but on every occasion that he found to portray himself as the 'Modern Day Buddha'.

Rejecting his claims, India had asserted that the hostilities stopped after Pakistani commanders pleaded with their Indian counterparts for a ceasefire, unable to afford any more losses on their side.

Trump is known to be gullible to flattery, and many around him made a fanfare over nominating him for the prize. Among them was debt-ridden Pakistan. In their quest to court Trump, especially after facing massive setbacks in their conflict against India, they had backed the US President for the Nobel Prize.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a key ally of Trump, who received regular help from the US in its Gaza campaign, had said that the President deserved the prize.

Trump was also nominated during his first term but did not win.

Trump Tirades

Deep within, Trump had a feeling he wouldn't win. Even to longtime Nobel experts, the US President did not stand even a remote chance at the award.

Trump had earlier claimed he was being willfully ignored and that he would get the Nobel Prize no matter what he does.

"No, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that's all that matters to me," he said in a tirade of criticism in July.

Nobel veterans suggest the committee prioritises sustained, multilateral efforts over quick diplomatic wins. And that the President's efforts have not yet proven to be long-lasting, pointed out Theo Zenou, a historian and research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. He said there's a big difference between stopping wars in the short term and resolving the root causes of the conflict.

Pure Drama

The announcement itself was laced with drama. The Norwegian Nobel Committee shared a video of its chair, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, putting on his suit and tie before he walked up to a hall full of reporters to make the big announcement. Another video showed him taking a sip of water, holding in his hand the name of the winner. He then walked up to the hall and announced Machado's name: "The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace, to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness."

4 Ex-Presidents Won Nobel

At least four former US presidents have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the past, including Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Woodrow Wilson (1919), and Jimmy Carter (2002). Barack Obama won it in 2009 for his advocacy for nuclear disarmament and efforts to strengthen international diplomacy.

Trump claimed his peace record is a bigger accomplishment than that of the other leaders, especially Obama, who had won the Nobel within a year of his presidency.

"He got it for doing nothing," Trump had lashed out hours before this year's prize was announced. "Obama got a prize—he didn't even know what—he got elected, and they gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country," he said.

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