The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has officially explained why former President Donald Trump did not win this year’s coveted award, despite widespread speculation that his role in brokering the Gaza peace deal would earn him the honor.

The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was instead awarded to Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader celebrated for her nonviolent struggle for democracy under Nicolás Maduro’s regime. The committee said her courage and sacrifice “embody the spirit of the Nobel Peace Prize,” even as political observers noted Trump’s omission as one of the biggest surprises of the year.

In a statement shared on social media, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wrote:

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado 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.”

Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes later clarified that Trump’s recent diplomacy, including his peace initiative between Israel and Hamas, was carefully considered but ultimately did not meet the prize’s criteria.

“We base our decisions only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel,” Frydnes said in an interview with NRK. “Our focus remains on individuals and movements advancing peace through human rights, democracy, and disarmament. Mr. Trump’s efforts, while significant, were heavily interlinked with ongoing geopolitical interests and not considered independent humanitarian initiatives.”

The explanation came after weeks of speculation that Trump’s Gaza ceasefire agreement, hailed as one of the most consequential Middle East peace deals in decades, would earn him international recognition. The former president himself had repeatedly hinted that he “deserved” the award.

“They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize,” Trump told reporters in February. “I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”

When the award went to Machado instead, Trump took to Truth Social to voice his frustration:

“The Nobel Committee has lost all credibility. We stopped a major war in Gaza, saved thousands of lives, and brought peace to the Middle East — but they gave the prize to someone nobody’s ever heard of. SAD!”

Supporters argue that Trump’s role in achieving the three-phase Gaza peace framework, which ended nearly two years of conflict, was historic. Under the agreement, all remaining hostages were released, Israeli forces withdrew from key zones, and humanitarian corridors opened for aid delivery. The deal was mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, but the White House confirmed Trump personally led the final negotiations.

Nevertheless, Nobel committee members suggested that Trump’s highly political rhetoric — and his tendency to frame the achievement in self-promotional terms — factored into their final judgment.

“The Nobel Peace Prize is not awarded for political self-advancement,” Frydnes explained. “It is awarded to those who, often at great personal cost, act for peace beyond their own national or personal interest.”

In contrast, Machado’s story of resistance struck a deeply human chord. Once banned from public office and forced into hiding, she continued organizing opposition movements, advocating for political prisoners, and mobilizing peaceful protests across Venezuela. The committee praised her “uncompromising commitment to freedom in the face of authoritarian oppression.”

Political analysts say the choice reflects the Nobel committee’s desire to return to its humanitarian roots. “It’s a message,” said Dr. Ingrid Sørensen, a political science professor at the University of Oslo. “They’re reminding the world that peace is not only about treaties and diplomacy — it’s also about individual courage and moral clarity.”

Even so, many agree that Trump’s diplomatic intervention reshaped the global conversation about leadership in crisis zones. Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz credited Trump for “achieving what few world leaders ever could,” calling the ceasefire “a miracle of pragmatism and power.”

Still, the Nobel committee stood firm in its reasoning. “The committee does not take sides in political rivalries,” Frydnes concluded. “We honor acts of peace, not personalities. Mr. Trump’s work in Gaza was recognized internationally, but it did not align with our criteria for this year’s award.”

As the debate continues, Trump’s allies have vowed to keep his name in contention for future prizes, while critics argue that his outrage only underscores the point — that true peacemakers seek peace for others, not praise for themselves.

Whether deserved or denied, one thing is certain: Donald Trump’s bid for the Nobel Peace Prize has reignited one of the oldest questions in world politics — can peace ever be separated from power?