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Will Donald Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize 2025? Explore the nomination rules, key rival candidates, and what to expect from this year’s selection
The Nobel Peace Prize is scheduled to be announced on Friday, October 10, with the highly-anticipated event drawing even more attention this time amid US President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions about his worthiness.
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish inventor and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature.
With all the other prizes being announced over the past several days, all eyes now rest on Friday’s big reveal.
When will the Nobel Peace Prize be announced?
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 will be announced on October 10, at 11am Central European Summer Time (CEST), that is, at 2.30pm Indian Standard Time (IST).
How are nominees selected for the Nobel Peace Prize?
Unlike the other Nobel Prizes where the Norwegian Nobel Committee itself decides the nominees and the winners, the Nobel Peace Prize is unique insofar that anyone from anywhere can nominate an individual or an organization, so long as they meet the criteria to be considered a nominator.
For the Nobel Peace Prize, no invitation from the Committee is required for a nominator to nominate someone for the prize.
Who can nominate?
Eligible nominators for the Nobel Peace Prize include university chancellors and rectors; professors teaching political science, social science, history, philosophy, law, and theology; people leading peace research institutes and international affairs institutes; members of national assemblies; government officials and members of international courts of law; past Nobel Peace Prize laureates; board members of organizations that received the prize in the past; and finally, current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, as well as former advisers to the Nobel Institute.
Is the list of nominees public?
No, the list of Nobel Prize nominees is not made public. In fact, the complete list of eligible nominees for any year’s prizes is not released for the next 50 years, as per the statutes of the Nobel Foundation.
How long does the nomination-to-award process take?
The process of selecting a Nobel Peace Prize laureate spans around eight months, with the Nobel Committee coming to a decision on the winner by the beginning of October “at the latest”, when a winner is selected based on a simple majority vote. The decision is final, and perhaps importantly (for this year), cannot be appealed.
On what basis is a winner selected?
As per Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Peace Prize is conferred to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
The will specifies that the prize should be awarded to those who “have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind”, adding that “no consideration whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, so that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinavian or not.”
The interpretation of Nobel’s will, over time, has also been expanded by the Nobel Committee to include efforts in human rights, democracy, and environmentalism as contributions to peace.
How many nominees are there for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize?
While the names of nominees are not made public, the Nobel Committee has said that this year’s list includes 338 candidates—244 individuals and 94 organizations.
Where does Trump figure in all of this?
Trump has repeatedly asserted that he is deserving of the accolade based on his self-proclaimed role in stopping seven wars in seven months, followed by the first phase of the Gaza peace plan which was agreed to by Israel and Hamas on October 9.
The US President has also received formal nominations from major international figures, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, and Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir.
In addition, his nomination has been publicly backed by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan (despite Trump’s repeated gaffes about the names of the two nations), as well by the leaders of Gabon and Rwanda for his role in mediating conflicts these nations were engaged in.
Several Republican lawmakers have also submitted letters nominating Trump or backing his nomination.
Backed by such figures, Trump has even gone on to say on record that being snubbed would be a “big insult” to the United States.
Understanding Trump’s eligibility
While there were reports suggesting that the deadline for nominations closed on January 31, and as such the US President would not have been eligible, Newsweek reported that the members of the committee were entitled to add more nominees to the initial list during their first meeting on February 28, a little over a month into Trump’s second term.
Further, debunking social media rumours that the US President had been disqualified, the Nobel Committee “unequivocally denied Trump had been removed from this year’s list of nominees”, Newsweek reported.
So what are Trump’s chances?
Despite Trump being a nominee, to the best of our understanding, experts remain skeptical about the US President’s chances of winning the honour.
For one, in spite of Trump’s claims of mediating conflicts, the Nobel Committee typically prioritizes sustained, long-term peace efforts over recent diplomatic developments whose durability is yet to be proven.
Secondly, Trump’s ‘America First’ policies and withdrawals from international pacts such as the Paris Climate Agreement go against the Committee’s focus on efforts that promote international fraternity.
And thirdly, Trump’s very public lobbying for the honour is unlikely to sit well with the Committee, experts said.
If not Trump, then who?
While Trump has indeed made the headlines when it comes to the Nobel Peace Prize, reports suggest other individuals and organizations could be more realistic picks, including deceased Russian politician Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya, United Nations agencies such as the UNRWA and the UNHCR, Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms, international organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Reporters Without Borders, climate activist Greta Thunberg, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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