Rabat – President Donald Trump’s quest for the Nobel Peace Prize did not end as he expected. The award went to Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Politico said today that Trump has “forcefully lobbied” for the prize, especially as he touted his efforts in solving “seven to eight wars” over the course of his term.
The White House announced in August that several leaders had endorsed him for the Nobel Peace Prize, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Hun Manet of Cambodia, as well as his long-time ally, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday that Machado has received the prize 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.”
The award went to Nihon Hidankyo, a group of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were recognized for their work to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Another high-profile winner was Barack Obama in 2009.
On Thursday, Trump criticized Obama for winning the award, accusing him of clinching the prize for “doing nothing.”
“He got it for doing nothing. Obama got a prize – he didn’t even know what – got elected, and they gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country.”
