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In a few hours from now, the wise men and women of the Nobel committee will reveal the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. The announcement at 11 am (2.30 pm IST) at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo will be the most closely-watched Peace Prize announcement in recent years. This is because over the last three months, US President Donald Trump has launched a high-visibility in-your-face campaign for the prize on at least 10 times, including an address at the UN General Assembly in September.
Trump has credited himself with ending between "six to seven conflicts", including one between India and Pakistan. In classic Trumpian hyperbole, he has variously described them as "unendable wars" that had raged for decades, if not "thousands of years", where "millions would be killed". He has mostly attributed the resolutions to his personal diplomacy, threats of tariffs or military action, and US mediation.
Trump got Israel and Pakistan to endorse his claims for the prize "awarded to the person who has done the most to advance peace in the world".
In June, the Pakistani government submitted a nomination for Trump's efforts in regional stability. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a Nobel Prize nomination letter to Trump in July, praising his Middle East diplomacy.
TRUMP ON NOBEL CHANCES
Asked by journalists at the White House on Wednesday whether he thought he could win the prize, Trump said, "I have no idea... Marco (Rubio) would tell you we settled seven wars. We are close to settling an eighth... I think we are close to settling the Russia situation... I don't think anybody in history has settled that many. But perhaps they'll find a reason not to give it to me".
The biggest reason Trump won't get the award is because nominations ended on January 31 this year, the week after he entered the White House.
The Nobel committee, which gives out the 114-year-old award, is steeped in tradition. As is the process, the names of the 330 nominees for this year's Peace Prize and the nominating committee will not be known for at least 50 years. The committee is selected by Norway's Parliament and the awards are given out in Oslo on December 10.
THE REALITY OF TRUMP'S CLAIMS
Only three to four of the wars Trump claimed to have settled involved actual armed conflict — Israel-Iran, India-Pakistan, Armenia-Azerbaijan and the Rwandan-Congo conflicts.
Others like the Egypt-Ethiopia Nile River dam dispute and the Serbia-Kosovo Balkan tensions did not involve an armed conflict. That hasn't dissuaded Trump from trying to join the ranks of four other US presidents Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, who have got the prestigious global award.
Of the four, Obama's Nobel is the most controversial. He was given the award in 2009, the year he assumed office, for fostering a "new climate in international relations, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world".
The US then was already involved in two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and over the course of the next decade, saw two more conflicts, in Syria and Libya.
To his credit, Trump is the only US President this century not to launch new wars. However, in his first term, his administration did escalate drone strikes, maintained inherited conflicts and conducted targeted assassinations, like the 2020 strike killing Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
PEACEMAKER IMAGE IN TRUMP 2.0
Trump campaigned for his second term with a promise to end global wars, including both the Russia-Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflicts. Both conflicts are still raging as of date. An attempt in August to get Putin to end the Russia-Ukraine war with a peace summit in Alaska failed. The war will enter its fourth year in February 2026.
Trump has now pinned his hopes on the Israel-Hamas conflict for his biggest Nobel breakthrough. On Thursday, just 24 hours before the Peace Prize announcement, Trump posted on Truth Social that both sides signed off on the first phase of the peace plan and that all hostages would be released very soon. He signed off his post with an all-caps remark, "Blessed are the peacemakers!"
The run-up to the post was a viral photograph of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio whispering to Trump, clutching a hand written note. "You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce the deal first," the note said.
New Delhi would be familiar with this modus operandi. On May 10, Trump announced an India-Pakistan ceasefire even before India could issue a statement. India has steadfastly denied Trump's role in the India-Pakistan ceasefire and maintained it was military pressure that got Islamabad to seek a ceasefire.
In September, Trump told CBS News that he was not interested in the Nobel Peace Prize. "I have nothing to say about it. All I can say is that I put out wars... I don't seek attention. I just want to save lives," he said.
This seems to be the Trump shtick to insulate himself from any disappointment on October 10. If he fails to win this year, he could be a contender for the 2026 prize. Trump's war for the peace prize is just getting started.
- Ends
Published By:
Abhishek De
Published On:
Oct 10, 2025
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