Trump offers measured response after missing out on Nobel Prize

President Donald Trump offered a measured response Friday to being passed over for a Nobel Peace Prize that he openly coveted in favor of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, even as one of his senior aides pointedly described the decision as placing “politics over peace.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump shared a social media post from Machado in which she credited him for U.S. support of the resistance against an increasingly authoritarian regime in Venezuela.

“We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy,” Machado wrote.

Later on Friday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Machado called him to say she was “accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it.”

“I didn’t say, ‘Then give it to me,’” Trump continued, eliciting laughter. “I think she might have. She was very nice.”

Trump has been highly critical of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, for whom the administration is offering a $50 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Maduro was indicted in the United States for narcoterrorism during the first Trump administration.

As the leader of the Venezuelan opposition to Maduro, Machado has received support from the Trump administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio even signed a letter nominating Machado for the Nobel Prize last year. Trump has called her a “freedom fighter” in the past, and in his remarks in the Oval Office, the president acknowledged that he’s “been helping her along the way.”

Machado has praised Trump in kind, and in a follow-up to her initial post on X, she dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize “to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause.”

Some allies of Trump’s were not as circumspect as the president in their response, however.

On Friday morning, Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications, wrote that the “Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”

“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,” he added.

The White House did not issue a formal statement congratulating Machado, and Trump adviser and acting head of the Kennedy Center Richard Grenell said on social media that “The Nobel Prize died years ago.”

Earlier in the day, Trump also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for appearing to side with him about deserving the prize, sharing a video on social media in which Putin told reporters that the Nobel Prize Committee has awarded the Peace Prize to people who have “done nothing for the world,” while Trump “solves complex problems, crises that last for decades.”

Trump had openly coveted the award, frequently touting his peacemaking efforts, privately making a push for it with former NATO chief and Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg - and going as far as to say that it would be “a big insult to our country” if he didn’t win and that “perhaps they’ll find a reason not to give it to me.” Israel and Hamas reached an initial ceasefire agreement Thursday, after Trump pushed hard for the two sides to reach a deal.

In Norway, home to the Prize Committee, there was speculation Friday about how Trump might react to having missed out on the prestigious accolade.

The announcement - and any potential repercussions for Norway - dominated Norwegian media, with the national broadcaster NRK writing, “Will the U.S. punish Norway if Trump doesn’t receive the Peace Prize?” and TV2 noting that the award could be interpreted as “a jab at Trump.”

Benedicte Bull, a professor of political science at the University of Oslo and expert in Latin American politics, said that while the Nobel Peace Prize was normally “relatively uncontroversial … this year there has been a mood of fear” in Norway that the prize could lead to retribution from Trump. “It’s very unpredictable what could come as a reaction.”

Norwegian officials have previously emphasized that the Nobel Committee makes its decisions independently, and Norwegian media have reported that the committee had chosen its peace prize winner earlier this week, before the Gaza ceasefire agreement brokered by Trump was announced.

Norway has faced backlash from other countries for the Nobel Committee’s decisions before - including in 2010, when China, angered by the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Chinese writer and dissident Liu Xiaobo, cut off diplomatic ties with Norway for several years. Several of its previous Peace Prizes were also considered controversial - including its decision to award President Barack Obama the accolade in 2009, less than a year into his first term.

While Norway’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment Friday, some Norwegian lawmakers and former ambassadors had expressed concern prior to the award being announced.

Kirsti Bergstø, the leader of Norway’s Socialist Left Party, which is allied with the ruling Labour Party, told the Guardian that she was “not sure Trump knows” that the Nobel Committee operates independently of the government. “When the president is this volatile and authoritarian, of course we have to be prepared for anything,” she added.

Meanwhile, former Norwegian foreign minister and ambassador Jan Petersen told NRK that the Nobel Peace Prize is often seen as linked to the Norwegian government, “so Norwegian authorities should probably prepare for reactions from the U.S., even though we hope and believe they won’t come.”

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly previously told The Washington Post that Trump’s efforts to end global conflicts are not about awards. “While the President deserves the Nobel Peace Prize many times over, he doesn’t care about recognition - only saving lives,” she said in a statement.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE