London: Venezuelan peace campaigner Maria Corina Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize after an intense lobbying campaign to name US President Donald Trump this year’s winner because of his efforts to secure a lasting peace in Gaza.
Trump has openly sought the prize this year, saying repeatedly that he should win it but that the awards committee might not give it to him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for Donald Trump to be given the award.Credit: Bloomberg
Asked on Thursday about his chances of winning the prize, Trump said he had ended eight wars including the conflict in Gaza but did not do so to win the award.
“They’ll have to do what they do. Whatever they do is fine,” he said of the Nobel committee.
“I know this: I didn’t do it for that, I did it because I saved a lot of lives.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office backed Trump for the award on social media one day before the decision, saying: “Give Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize – he deserves it!”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also said Trump “deserves the Nobel Peace Prize” for the peace deal, according to a statement reported by news service Anadolu Agency.
In August, Trump made a surprise phone call to Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, a former NATO secretary-general, and said he wanted the prize.
Critics have disputed his claims about ending eight wars, noting, for instance, that war continues between Congo and Rwanda despite his claims about peace. India does not accept that Trump ended its recent conflict with Pakistan. However, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev jointly endorsed Trump for the prize in August for his role in ending their conflict.
