Trump Gets Passed Over as María Corina Machado Takes Home the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

Donald Trump was pretty sure he had the Nobel Peace Prize in the bag. But nope, it went to Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado instead. Everyone’s wondering how the president’s going to react to this one.

The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has found its winner—and it’s not Donald Trump. Even though the president has been dropping hints left and right about how he totally deserves it, the award landed with María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan leader who’s been battling nonstop for democracy back home.

Trump’s been pretty vocal about his own shot at the prize, often bragging about his role in sorting out global messes.

Back in February, during a sit-down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, he let slip: “They’ll never hand me a Nobel Peace Prize. I deserve it, but it’ll never happen.”

The 79-year-old has made a habit of touting his foreign policy wins, saying he’s knocked out conflicts without even needing ceasefires. At an August gathering with Ukrainian and European bigwigs, Trump boasted: “I’ve handled six wars, ended six wars. Check out the six deals I closed this year—they were all in the thick of fighting. No ceasefires from me.”

Leading the betting odds worldwide

Heading into the big reveal, Trump’s name was popping up at the top of betting lists everywhere, especially after he kept insisting he “deserved” it for his diplomatic moves.

But in the end, the 2025 Nobel went to María Corina Machado.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee shared the news on X: “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize to Maria Corina Machado 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.”

Machado’s a Venezuelan politician and industrial engineer who’s become a major thorn in President Nicolás Maduro’s side.

Despite getting barred from elections and dealing with constant threats, she’s kept pushing for real democratic changes and fair voting in Venezuela. This prize could give the opposition a big boost, though it’s bound to rile up Maduro’s crew. The ceremony’s happening December 10 in Oslo, Norway.

Fresh off a peace agreement

This all drops while Trump’s still patting himself on the back for his global deal-making. He’s gotten a lot of kudos lately for brokering that peace between Hamas and Israel.

“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” he posted. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”

Israel’s gearing up for some troop pullbacks in Gaza, but those overnight airstrikes show things are still tense. In the first stage, around 55 percent of Gaza stays occupied, with later phases whittling that down to about 15 percent.