The White House on Friday criticized the Nobel Committee after it declined to pick President Donald Trump for the organization’s vaunted peace prize.
But the prize’s actual recipient, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, said she was partly dedicating the award to Trump for supporting her efforts to promote democracy in her country.
Machado said in an X post that her cause of achieving freedom and democracy depends on Trump and other key allies.
“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” she wrote.
This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom.
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…
— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) October 10, 2025
Machado’s shoutout came less than three hours after White House communications director Steven Cheung claimed that by snubbing Trump, “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.
The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace. https://t.co/dwCEWjE0GE
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) October 10, 2025
Trump reportedly called Machado on Friday to congratulate her on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump for years has said he deserves the prize, which has been awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee more than 100 times since 1901 to honor one person’s work to promote peace.
He has also been openly critical of former President Barack Obama receiving the prize in 2009.
“They gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country,” Trump said Thursday.
In recent months, Trump ended seven wars.
After Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a peace plan this week, Trump claimed, “This would be number eight.”
A number of Trump’s Republican allies have advocated for him to get the prize, though the nomination deadline for the 2025 award ended less than two weeks into his current presidential term.
Asked about the campaign for Trump, Nobel Committee Chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said that his panel is used to receiving media attention and “thousands and thousands of letters” every year.
“This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity,” Frydnes said at a press conference.
“We base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”
