The story of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize is a tale of two very different campaigns. On one side was Donald Trump’s overt and aggressive public relations tout; on the other was María Corina Machado’s years of tireless work, which spoke for itself. In the end, substance won over salesmanship.
Trump’s lobbying for the prize was relentless and highly visible. His supporters, and his own administration, made a loud and public case for his candidacy, especially after his involvement in a Gaza ceasefire plan. They were selling an image of Trump as the ultimate dealmaker.
Machado, meanwhile, was not running a campaign for the Nobel. She was running a campaign for democracy in Venezuela. Her “lobbying” consisted of organizing, protesting, and building coalitions. Her work was her argument.
The Nobel committee’s decision to honor Machado is a clear rejection of the idea that the Peace Prize can be won through a PR blitz. They chose to reward the tangible results of her long-term activism over the well-marketed results of Trump’s short-term diplomacy.
The White House’s statement after the loss was, in effect, a final piece of marketing, touting Trump’s “humanitarian heart” and unique will. But the committee had already made its choice, and they chose the candidate whose work, not whose words, made the most compelling case for peace.