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The winner was selected out of more than 300 candidates officially nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
WASHINGTON — The winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was announced early Friday morning.
Maria Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader, was selected by the five-person Norwegian Nobel Committee and revealed in Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was honoring her “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.”
Leading up to Friday’s announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize drew added attention to the annual guessing game over who its next laureate would be.
The White House responded bitterly to Trump being passed over, with communications director Steven Cheung saying members of “the Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace” because they didn’t recognize Trump.
Who else was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year?
The selection and nomination process for the Nobel Peace Prize is notoriously secretive. There were 338 candidates nominated for the 2025 prize, of which 244 were individuals and 94 organizations, according to the group. But beyond that, we don’t officially know who else was nominated.
None of the nominations for any of the Nobel prizes are announced by the respective committees, and the Nobel statutes prohibit the judges from discussing their deliberations for 50 years. However, those doing the nominating may choose to make their recommendations public – That’s how we know Trump had been nominated, at least previously.
Who has previously won the Nobel Peace Prize?
The most recent American to have won the Nobel Peace Prize was then-President Barack Obama. He won in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
The Nobel committee was met with fierce criticism for giving Obama the prize barely nine months into his first term. Many argued Obama had not been in office long enough to have an impact worthy of the Nobel.
Three other U.S. presidents have won through the years, including Jimmy Carter in 2002, Woodrow Wilson in 1919 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Other notable American winners include Al Gore, Martin Luther King Jr., Jane Addams, Emily Greene Balch and Elie Wiesel.
Who decides the Nobel Peace Prize?
The job of deciding who wins the Nobel Peace Prize falls on a five-member committee, appointed by Norway’s parliament.
The 2025 committee included: Jørgen Watne Frydnes (Chair), Asle Toje (Vice Chair), Anne Enger, Kristin Clemet and Gry Larsen.
For the first time in the award’s 125-year history, the media was allowed a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the process. The BBC, along with Norway’s national broadcaster, gained exclusive access as the committee gathered to discuss their choice for 2025. The broadcasters left the room before the committee officially made their decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
