The head of the Nobel Committee has hit back after the White House condemned its decision not to award this year’s peace prize to Donald Trump.
Jorgen Watne Frydnes was forced to respond after the president’s top spin doctor said they had “placed politics over peace”.
Trump has been openly campaigning to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, claiming to have stopped as many as eight wars since returning to the Oval Office in January.
However, Watne Frydnes announced on Friday morning that the committee had awarded this year’s peace prize to Venezuelan democracy campaigner María Corina Machado.
In a post on X, they said Machado “has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people”.
“The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world,” the committee said. “We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation.”
Their remarks have been interpreted by some as an indirect criticism of Trump, who has been criticised over his legal pursuit of his political enemies and decision to send the national guard into cities run by Democratic politicians.
Writing on X after the Nobel announcement, White House director of communications Steven Cheung hit out at the committee.
He said: “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.”
On Sky News, Watne Frydnes said: “Our response is we hope as many people around the world should support the important work of Machado.
“This is work that we believe is desrrving and we hope that both political leaders, countries and people would support the mass movement that wants democracy in Venezuela and works for a free and fair transition from a brutal dictatorship to democracy.”
Asked about Trump’s campaign to win the award, he said: “We read the news as everyone else and this year there has been quite a lot of focus on that, but I must also say that in the long history of the Nobel peace prize, we have seen all kinds of campaigns, lobbying, pressure.
“Every year we receive thousands and thousands of letters, emails, people who want to express their opinion about who should receive the prize and also what actually leads to peace, so that’s something we’re quite used to.”
