Not You!

Nobel Committee rejects Trump’s nomination.

A government shutdown, economic uncertainty, Israel already violating the ceasefire, political violence on the rise in the United States, weaponizing the federal government to punish the opposition, gun violence happening everyday, censorship, consolidation of media companies and unfair repressive elections.

So much freedom in the United States.

Days of decline are ahead.

Examples of democratic backsliding include:

• Free and fair elections are degraded;
• Liberal rights of freedom of speech, press and association decline, impairing the ability of the political opposition to challenge the government, hold it to account, and propose alternatives to the current regime;
• The rule of law (i.e., judicial and bureaucratic restraints on the government) is weakened, such as when the independence of the judiciary is threatened, or when civil service tenure protections are weakened or eliminated.
• An over-emphasis on national security as response to acts of terrorism or perceived antagonists.

The President of the United States is not a peaceful person. He never was and he could never show an ounce of peace.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a woman who is opposing Nicolas Maduro.

The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, pushed back against suggestions that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize decision was made to spite Trump’s public campaign for the award.

He was nominated by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel who is considered an international criminal for crimes against humanity. 

Frydnes was asked directly just moments after he announced this year’s prize would go to Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado, whether Trump’s repeated insistence that he “deserves” the prize had affected deliberations.

A reporter in the room asked: “During the past months, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and he’d like to have it. He even said it would be an insult to the United States if he doesn’t get it. What [do you], as chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, think of this? And how has this campaign-like activity by the president and his supporters, domestically and internationally, affected the deliberation and thinking in the committee?”

He replied: “In the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think this committee has seen many types of campaign, media attention. We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace. This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. So we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”

The remarks came moments after Machado was awarded the 2025 Peace Prize. Frydnes called her a “brave and committed champion of peace” who “keeps the flame of democracy burning during a growing darkness.”

María Corina Machado risks her life for democracy in Venezuela.

Naming her, the chair said: “In the past year, Miss Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.”

Trump’s supporters had pressed the committee to recognise his 20-point Gaza peace plan and his claimed role in “ending seven wars.” But despite a flurry of last-minute lobbying, including from families of Israeli hostages, Trump’s campaign failed.

By selecting Machado, however, the committee also chose a figure who had previously praised the president in a nuance that could blunt some of the political backlash. In past public remarks, Machado thanked Trump for his “commitment to freedom and democracy in Venezuela.”

She also featured on this year’s TIME magazine list of the “100 Most Influential People” where Secretary of State Marco Rubio called her “the personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism.”