The White House criticized the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday after it awarded the 2025 peace prize to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,” White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung said on X. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”
The committee rewarded Machado for her work as a central opposition figure to a “a brutal, authoritarian state” under President Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez. In 2024, Machado’s candidacy was blocked, she was prevented from leaving the country, and she has been forced to live in hiding.
In other years, Machado’s victory might be uncontroversial, but US President Donald Trump has openly campaigned for the prize: “I deserve it,” Trump said back in February, “but they would never give it to me.”