White House Official Says Nobel Committee 'Chose Politics Over Peace' After Trump Misses Out on Award

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung accused the Nobel Committee of prioritizing "politics over peace" after the Norwegian panel awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, passing over President Donald Trump, whose supporters had mounted an active campaign on his behalf.

"The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace," Cheung said in a social media publication. "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."

The Nobel Committee announced Friday that Machado, 58, was chosen to receive the award "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy."

Machado, who has been in hiding since August 2024 following a crackdown by the authoritarian government of Nicolás Maduro, said she was "in shock" after learning of the award. "I can't believe this," she told fellow opposition figure Edmundo González, who she anointed as presidential candidate last year after she was banned from competing, during a phone call shared on social media.

Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes described Machado as "one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America," calling her a unifying figure in Venezuela's long-divided opposition. Human rights advocates also praised the decision.

As The Hill points out, Trump's bid for the award was considered a long shot, with the deadline for nominations being February 1, just weeks into his second term. The former president has publicly lobbied for the award, calling it an "insult to our country" if not given it, the outlet recalled.

The decision also comes shortly after Trump announced he played a key role in Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, the first phase of his 20-point plan to end the war. The Israeli government also claimed Trump "deserves the Nobel Peace Prize" following the deal.

The Hill also points out that Trump himself has also criticized the Nobel Prize in the past, something that may have added to the decision not to choose him. At a campaign rally in North Carolina in 2024, Trump repeated his criticisms that President Obama, awarded the prize in the first year of his presidency for his work to strengthen international diplomacy, did not deserve the Nobel Prize and that he is being repeatedly snubbed.