US President Donald Trump spoke on Friday with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado after his administration denounced the committee awarding her the honor.
Trump has made no secret of his need to win the prize. A rising variety of world leaders have additionally mentioned he ought to win the award. Those calls elevated as his Gaza peace plan gained momentum in latest days. However, the nomination window closes at the finish of January for the 12 months, in accordance to the award’s web site.
On Friday, the Nobel Committee introduced the 2025 accolade would go to Machado for selling democratic rights in Venezuela and “for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Machado mentioned in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais that she had spoken with the US president however declined to provide particulars about their dialog. The opposition chief, as she had in her put up accepting the award, expressed gratitude to Trump.
Still, as of Friday afternoon, Trump had not provided public congratulations to Machado. NCS reached out to the White House about the name.
Shortly after the announcement, the administration reacted negatively.
“The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” White House communications director Steven Cheung mentioned in a put up on social media.
Machado received the award after years of efforts to promote democracy and has described her life’s work as selling “ballots over bullets.” She was pushed into hiding in Venezuela amid a pointy crackdown on dissent by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Many in the Trump administration had beforehand praised Machado’s work. The administration has additionally repeatedly denounced Maduro and has deployed a considerable navy presence to the area to fight “narcotrafficking” – a marketing campaign that many see as an try to weaken and doubtlessly drive the Venezuelan chief from energy.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was amongst a gaggle of lawmakers, together with now US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, who nominated Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024.
“In our work as policymakers who strive for democracy and human rights in the face of dictatorial regimes in the Western Hemisphere and beyond, we have rarely witnessed such courage, selflessness, and firm grasp of morality as we have in María Corina Machado,” they wrote in a letter in November 2024.
“It is our firm belief that María Corina Machado’s courageous and selfless leadership, and unyielding dedication to the pursuit of peace and democratic ideals, make her a most deserving candidate for this prestigious award,” the group of Florida lawmakers wrote.
In April, Rubio referred to as her “the personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism,” somebody who “has never backed down from her mission of fighting for a free, fair, and democratic Venezuela.”
Trump himself, earlier than his inauguration in January, mentioned she was a freedom fighter who “MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!”
Machado on Friday devoted her Nobel Prize “to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”
However, there have been no heat phrases from the president’s allies after her win and the perceived snubbing of Trump.
Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for Venezuela, declared the “Nobel Prize died years ago.”
Benjamin Gedan, the Venezuelan director at the National Security Council below the Obama administration, mentioned it appeared the Nobel Committee was sending a message to each the United States and the Venezuelan opposition in its alternative to award Machado the prize.
“The White House has been sending signals that it might use military force to topple this regime, and that it has the support of Maria Corina to do so,” Gedan instructed NCS. “It seems to me that the Nobel Committee would prefer that both the United States and the Venezuelan opposition continue to fight peacefully for change.”
“I think the US reaction might reflect both things – frustration that Trump wasn’t chosen but also discomfort with this critique of US policy in the Caribbean,” he mentioned.
Although Trump had not spoken publicly about Machado’s win as of Friday afternoon, he had, nonetheless, thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There have been cases where the committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to people who have done nothing for peace,” Putin mentioned in remarks in Tajikistan Friday.
“Whether the current US president deserves the Nobel Prize or not, I don’t know. But he’s really doing a lot to resolve complex crises that last for years, even decades,” he mentioned.
“Thank you to President Putin!” Trump wrote in on Truth social, following Friday’s announcement, which included a clip of the Russian President who has perpetuated an ongoing struggle in opposition to Ukraine and has defied Trump’s personal efforts to convey that battle to an finish.