Trump makes gracious gesture after missing out on Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado

After dedicating the Nobel Peace Prize to the US President and his country’s pro-democracy movement, Donald Trump called Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and congratulated her on winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump’s reaction to Machado, 58, receiving the award for which he actively campaigned may come as a surprise to critics, given speculation that he would be angry about not receiving the award himself.

Many people had tipped the President as a brokerage candidate. The historic peace agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the two-year war in Gaza that killed more than 70,000 people.

But the infamous wake-up committee in Oslo rejected Trump because he failed to meet the standards of ‘courage and honesty’.

“We base our decision solely on the work and will of Alfred Nobel,” Nobel president Jorgen Watne Frydnes said.

Instead, on Friday morning, Machado was the winner of his fight for freedom against communist tyrant Nicolas Maduro.

Trump’s generous response came after the Venezuelan politician thanked his country for its “steadfast support” of the pro-democracy movement.

“I dedicate this award to the suffering people of Venezuela and President Trump,” he wrote to X.

“We stand on the brink of victory, and today, more than ever, we rely on President Trump, the people of the United States, the people of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve freedom and democracy,” he added.

White House sources told Bloomberg that Trump called Machado but did not disclose further details of the call.

Donald Trump called the Venezuelan politician today and congratulated him on winning the Nobel Prize.

The president has spoken out harshly against Maduro on the international stage, accusing his regime of attacking America through cartel ‘narco terrorism’.

Machado has been hiding in Venezuela for the past year, since elections in which authoritarian leftist President Nicolas Maduro was accused of theft.

The politician, who was banned from running in the elections, instead campaigned on behalf of his deputy, former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who was seen as the rightful winner by most of the international community.

The Nobel Committee spoke of his ‘tireless work in support of the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and his struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy’.

Machado, 58, has supported Trump’s ongoing military pressure campaign on Maduro, including a major US naval deployment near Venezuela, as a ‘necessary measure’ towards a democratic transition in Venezuela.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared Machado’s post in which he dedicated his Nobel Prize to Trump on the X account.

Jorgen Watne Frydnes, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said he was awarding Machado “for his tireless work supporting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for his struggle to ensure a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

Speaking after receiving this honour, Machado said: ‘Such great recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is an impetus to complete our mission: to achieve freedom.’ Image: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

Several of Machado’s opposition leaders, including former two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, congratulated him on his award.

“Let this recognition be another means to achieve PEACE and for our Venezuela to leave the suffering behind and regain the freedom and democracy for which it has been fighting for years,” Capriles wrote to X.

Trump missed out on the award after Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes suggested he was not the most deserving candidate.

He was quizzed by journalists about his campaign for the award and whether it had affected public perception.

Frydnes responded diplomatically, dodging the question by explaining why the committee chose Machado instead.

In the long history of the ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ this committee has seen: [every] “It is a kind of campaign,” he said.

‘Every year we receive letters from thousands of people who want to tell us what will lead to peace for them.

Frydnes claimed today that Donald Trump did not receive the award because he was not the most deserving candidate

‘This committee sits in a room full of portraits of all the awardees, and this room is full of courage and integrity. We base our decision solely on the work and will of Alfred Nobel.’

The White House responded after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Machado instead of Trump.

“The Nobel Committee has proven that it puts politics before peace,” said Steven Cheung, the president’s communications director.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin weighed in when asked whether the US President deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.

‘It’s not up to me to decide whether the current US President deserves the Nobel’ [Peace] Award or not, I don’t know.

“But it is really doing a lot to resolve these complex crises that have been going on for years, in some cases even decades,” the Russian leader said.

The announcement came after the Israeli army declared that the Gaza ceasefire agreement was now in force following the vote in the cabinet last night.

The name of the US President, who has been heavily featured in the media in recent weeks, was not included in the final cut.

In the months before the decision, Trump had strongly portrayed himself as a peacemaker. He presented himself as a bridge builder, highlighted his 20-point Gaza peace plan, and repeatedly emphasized that he had ended many wars.

Two-time US President Trump has been running a not-so-subtle Nobel Prize campaign since his first term in office, claiming that ‘a lot of people’ think he won the prize.

Speculation that he might win the award this year began after he brokered the historic peace agreement signed between Israel and Hamas to end the two-year war in Gaza.

Both sides agreed to the first phase of Trump’s plan to stop the war and release the hostages; It’s a deal that could pave the way for ending a brutal conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe.

Frydnes said Machado was praised for being ‘a key, unifying figure in a once deeply divided political opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government’.

‘Last year Ms Machado had to live in hiding. He remained in the country despite serious threats to his life; It was a choice that inspired millions.

‘When the authoritarians seized power, it is crucial to recognize the brave defenders of freedom who stood up and resisted,’ he said.

Nicolás Maduro’s government routinely targeted real or perceived rivals ahead of last year’s presidential election.

Machado was scheduled to run against Maduro, but the government disqualified him. He was replaced by Edmundo González; He has never been a candidate before.

The election was preceded by widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations.

The crackdown on the opposition increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, filled with Maduro loyalists, declared Maduro the winner, despite credible evidence to the contrary.