White House criticizes awarding of Nobel Prize to Venezuelan activist

The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Consequently, U.S. President Donald Trump misses out on the prestigious award.

Machado has earned this award because of her political engagement in her home country .Since founding the non-governmental organisation Súmate in 2002 she has campaigned against Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro Moros, whose 12-year rule is viewed by many as illegitimate.

Machado, 58, was hailed by the Nobel Committee as "one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times".

Announcing the recipient of the prize at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Friday, the committee warned that "democracy is in retreat" across the world.

Machado - who has been forced to live in hiding for much of the past year - was recognised for "her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy", Nobel chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes said.

She has been a "key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided... in a brutal authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis", he added.

"Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions."

Not everyone is happy with this outcome. Trump, who had made it public knowledge that he wanted the prize, will surely feel that he missed out. As a response to todays news, the White House posted a message on social media: "The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,"said White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.

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Meanwhile, Machado proceeded to thank Trump in her victory speech.:

"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 nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy," Machado wrote on social media.