Roving Periscope: Norway braces for Trump’s wrath as the Nobel Peace Prize goes to a Venezuelan woman!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: It may have come as a multiple whammy to the mercurial US President Donald Trump, whose fervent quest for the Nobel Peace Prize 2025 dashed on Friday!
As he packs his bags for Egypt to ‘implement’ his much-publicized and controversial 20-point ‘peace plan,’ potentially ending the two-year-long ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the Nobel Peace Prize went to Opposition activist Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela, Trump’s enemy number two in Latin America, after Brazil, which both he has been target-practicing.
Ironically, hours before the Nobel Committee announced the Peace Prize, Russia, which has been fighting its own war in Ukraine since February 2022, also endorsed Trump’s candidacy for the coveted award!
Machado, the former Opposition presidential candidate in Venezuela, the media reported on Friday, was lauded for being a “key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.
But the Norwegian officials, aware of Trump’s tariff-trade-threats, are concerned. They know that the ‘authoritarian’ US President will not digest this snub easily, nor believe in the independence of the Nobel Committee from the government in Oslo. Recently, Trump had even telephoned a Norwegian minister pushing for a Nobel Peace Prize for himself!
So, shortly after the Prize was announced on Friday, Norway – home of the Nobel Committee – braced for diplomatic fireworks for ignoring Trump, who has been actively campaigning himself as the most suitable candidate, and even enlisted support from Pakistan, Israel, and Ukraine, among others. Many social media users urged Norway to defend the Nobel Committee’s neutrality and also prepare for potential fallout, from fierce rhetoric to questions about Norway’s international relations.
Some reports said that Norway is readying itself for Trump’s wrath.
“Norway is bracing for Trump’s reaction if he does not win Nobel Peace Prize, stating that “US President may impose tariffs, demand higher NATO contributions or even declare Norway an enemy,” a report in The Guardian said.
“How dare the Nobel Committee exclude Chickening out President Trump @realDonaldTrump from the race? Tariff on Norway is unstoppable now,” commented one user, citing the Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong’s May 2025 acronym TACO, for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
“We’re not a million miles away from the headline: Donald Trump declares war on Norway for not giving him the Nobel Peace Prize,” said another.
“Trump lost out to a Venezuelan woman for the Nobel Peace Prize – how will you celebrate? Also, lookout Norway!” a third user said.
The Nobel Peace Prize, established under businessman and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will, goes to “the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.”
Each year, nominations must be submitted by January 31. Eligible nominators include cabinet ministers, heads of state, members of international courts, professors (history, law, social sciences, philosophy, theology), previous laureates, and certain appointed members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Trump returned to the White House for a second term on January 20 and has been openly campaigning for the Prize, claiming he had brought peace in eight wars between different countries since then.
After nominations close, the Norwegian Nobel Committee conducts a months-long evaluation. They prepare a shortlist, receive reports and advice from experts, and seek consensus in their decision. Failing consensus, decisions are made by majority vote. The final laureate is announced in early October in Oslo. Friday’s decision means Trump’s claims were rejected.
Besides his own White House, he was named or nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize by several figures, including Malta’s Foreign Minister, citing his recent peace efforts such as mediating agreements in the Middle East and easing the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. He also claimed to have calmed tensions between India and Pakistan – something New Delhi rejected repeatedly, maintaining that Operation Sindoor paused only after Pakistan’s panicked Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) called in May 2025, requesting an end to the fierce Indian military action against Islamabad-promoted terror facilities.
Apart from that, Trump also claimed that his intervention ended the Thailand-Cambodia conflict, and eased hostilities between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
But, the Nobel Peace Prize, by tradition, implies not just peace-making but sustained work. The Committee remains independent and bound by its statutes, putting weight on consistent long-term contributions rather than last-minute diplomacy.
Experts say the panel typically focuses on the durability of peace, promotion of international fraternity, and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals.
Last year’s award went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Japanese atomic bombing survivors who have worked for decades against the use of nuclear weapons.
The Peace Prize is the only Nobel prizes awarded in Oslo, Norway.
Four of the other prizes have already been awarded in the Swedish capital, Stockholm this week — in medicine on Monday, physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The winner of the prize in economics will be announced on Monday.
