Peacemakers

There is rejoicing as peace has started to return to the heart of the war-ravaged Middle East, and a ceasefire has come into force between Israel and Hamas in the presence of some of the top leaders of the world. It is heartening to see the process being prefaced by two distinguished peacemakers – winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela, and US President Donald Trump – graciously lauding each other for their endeavours to establish peace in their own ways. Spotlight was on the Nobel Peace Prize this year as Trump had been outspoken about his desire for the award, taking credit for ending several global conflicts. He had regularly brought it up, including during his address to the UN General Assembly in September.

This triggered speculation how the US President would react if the Nobel Committee did not choose him for the honour, given Trump’s track record of behaving belligerently if his wishes were not fulfilled. Predictably, moments after Machado was declared the winner, the White House accused the Nobel Committee of putting “politics over peace” for awarding its most coveted prize to the Venezuelan pro-democracy activist, ignoring the claims of the US President. But Trump surprised everyone as he graciously accepted the committee’s decision and congratulated Machado over phone. It appears Machado won Trump’s heart when she told him that she was receiving the award in his honour and that she believed he deserved the award more. While reporting their conversation, Trump even joked that he “did not tell Machado to give me the Nobel Prize.”

The President went further to praise the new Nobel laureate for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and promised that he would continue to help her in achieving her goals. He did mention his own efforts to end conflicts in “eight cases,” including the recent India-Pakistan conflict following the Pahalgam terror attack. Trump signed off with the assertion that he was “happy” that he could “bring peace for millions of people.” In fact, he posted in his social media account, “blessed are peacemakers.” Many foreign leaders, including Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had publicly stated that Trump deserved the prestigious honour. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin said Trump was doing a lot to resolve complex crises and effectively endorsed his claim to the prize.

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On the other hand, in keeping with the spirit of her fight for democracy and freedom, Machado praised Trump on X following her win, dedicating the prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump “for his decisive support of our cause.” The Nobel Committee probably did not want to be judged as having buckled under pressure exerted by Trump’s lobbyists and chose Machado. Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize close on 31 January of each year, while Trump assumed office for his second term only a few days before the deadline. The Nobel Committee meets between February and September to whittle down the list of nominees.

In fact, Marco Rubio, now Trump’s secretary of state, was among a group of Congress members who nominated Machado for the prize in August 2024, while he was still a US senator. Trump has to traverse a long way before he could really be a serious contender for the prize. It is not clear what achievement Trump would have secured to merit the prize for this year. True, the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is a significant development, but it is still in its initial stage. Russia’s war with Ukraine shows no signs of coming to an end any time soon, despite Trump’s insistence that both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin agree to a peace deal. Again, in his second term, Trump has pursued an “America-first” policy, jeopardising global economy and diplomacy and cracking down on immigrants ruthlessly and mercilessly. Within weeks of taking office, he gave his nod to his then-advisor Elon Musk’s proposal to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development, which provided humanitarian assistance throughout the world.

The Nobel Committee awards the Peace Prize to leaders who champion arms control and disarmament, peace negotiation, democracy and human rights and work aimed at creating a better organised and more peaceful world, as its website declares. The way Trump has taken his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize in his stride and is working towards bringing peace in the Middle East is laudable. He needs to keep this momentum going so as to emerge as a true peacemaker, prize or not.