World awaits blowback as the prize slips from Trump’s hands

IN AWARDING the Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela, the Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised “a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

- JUSTIN SINK

It’s hard to predict how that will go down with a US president who famously prefers to keep the spotlight on himself.

To Donald Trump, the announcement that the Nobel Peace Prize has once again been awarded to someone else risks registering as the latest ignominy in a lifetime of rejection by elites.

The question is how he might register that indignation. An early indication came from White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung, who posted on X that the committee “proved they place politics over peace”.

Trump has made no secret of his desire to win the Nobel. He’s cited his interventions that he claimed ended seven wars. In a speech to the UN General Assembly last month, he said that “everyone says” he should be awarded the prize.