Nobel Peace Prize winner hands over her award to Donald Trump – and people are furious
Donald Trump didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize — but months after being publicly snubbed, the former U.S. president now has the medal in hand. And the way he got it, critics say, is “beyond embarrassing.”
In December 2025, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 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 Norwegian Nobel Committee writes.
President Donald Trump had spent much of the year openly campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize. He frequently touted his role in ending global conflicts and said he deserved recognition for, in his words, “stopping eight wars.”
Support from Netanyahu and Putin
Trump, who had vocally campaigned for the honor throughout 2025 and was nominated by several world leaders – including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – was visibly sidelined by the committee that selects Nobel laureates each year.
After he was snubbed, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported his American pal, saying “they’ve given Peace Prizes to undeserving folks.”
“The committee discussed the prize for people who have done nothing for the world. The prize lost its credibility,” he said. “No clue if the US President deserves it. He’s working hard on long-standing crises. He’s genuine about the Ukraine situation. Some things worked, some didn’t. He’s definitely trying to resolve issues.”