Golden Obsession and Oslo's Silence

On October 10, 2025, at 11:00 AM (Oslo local time), the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced María Corina Machado of Venezuela as the Peace Prize laureate. The honor went to a female political prisoner who fought against a dictatorial regime. At that very moment, somewhere in the White House, the world's most powerful leader may have been grimacing at the thought of a medal he didn't receive.

President Donald Trump is famously fond of gold. Gold buildings, gold shoes, even gold toilets. Now there's one more thing he wants: a golden Nobel medal. While claiming he wants it "not for himself but for the country," he posted a Bible verse on Truth Social: "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9). It was the moment peace became not a conviction, but a brand.

A Ceasefire Timed to a Deadline

Trump coordinated his diplomatic schedule around this year's Nobel announcement. He personally called Jens Stoltenberg, Norway's Finance Minister and former NATO Secretary General, to "remind him of the award timeline," and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and the Pakistani government submitted nominations for him in succession. Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te half-jokingly remarked, "If Trump can make Xi Jinping abandon military threats against Taiwan, he deserves the Nobel Prize."

Former Israeli negotiator Hadar testified to The Washington Post: "Everyone knew. Friday was the deadline. That's when Oslo would announce the winner." So the Gaza ceasefire agreement was hastily concluded Wednesday night. For Trump, peace was not an "outcome" but "marketing material."

Trump did pressure Netanyahu. When the Israeli military bombed Doha, Qatar, the White House forced Netanyahu to publicly apologize—a historically rare instance of a U.S. president making an Israeli prime minister kneel. The ceasefire was achieved, but the devastation remained: 67,000 bodies in Gaza (mostly women and children), 90% of buildings destroyed.

The Truth Behind "Ending 7 Wars"

Trump boasts of "ending 7 wars, including India-Pakistan, Armenia-Azerbaijan, and Congo-Rwanda." However, AP fact-checking revealed that some conflicts had already ended 20 years ago or were never wars but states of tension. In Trump's worldview, history is as editable in real-time as a tweet.

The Person Who Received Not a Peace Prize but a 'Mirror Award'

The Nobel Committee's choice, María Corina Machado, is a dissident who fought against Venezuela's dictatorship. She endured imprisonment and persecution. Trump, by contrast, wages "war" against the media, immigrants, and courts while portraying himself as a victim. The committee's message was clear: "Peace is proven not by power, but by sacrifice."

Why This Story Matters

This incident is not merely Trump's personal disappointment. It demonstrates how the meaning of 'peace' is distorted in modern international politics. Peace agreements are "manufactured" to match media headlines and award timings, while those actually suffering are pushed to the margins.

There are implications for South Korea as well. North Korea-U.S. relations and the Korean Peninsula peace process are also within the sphere of influence of Trump-style 'show diplomacy'. The 2018 Singapore summit was similar—flashy handshakes and declarations, but limited substantive progress on denuclearization. When peace is packaged as an "achievement," real peace may become more distant.

The History of Peace and Its Political Instrumentalization

The Nobel Peace Prize has historically been controversial. In 2009, Barack Obama received it just nine months into his presidency. Critics complained he "hadn't done anything yet." Obama himself admitted he was "surprised." But the difference between Obama and Trump is clear. After receiving the award, Obama took substantive steps on nuclear arms reduction and climate change response. Trump, conversely, created a ceasefire "to obtain" the Peace Prize.

This isn't the first time the Peace Prize was politically exploited. In 1973, Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho received it jointly for the Vietnam War ceasefire agreement, but the war continued for two more years. In 1994, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres received it for the Oslo Accords, but Israeli-Palestinian peace remains elusive. The Peace Prize encourages process, not guarantees results.

Future Outlook [AI Analysis]

Trump's Nobel failure reconfirms that his diplomatic strategy is focused on short-term results. The Gaza ceasefire also prioritized "announcement timing" over sustainability. This pattern will likely repeat in future negotiations with North Korea, Iran, and Ukraine: "Deal concluded → media play → poor implementation."

The Nobel Committee will likely continue awarding the prize to resisters rather than power holders. Machado's award was a signal. The committee made clear: "Peace doesn't come from imposing force, but from fighting for justice." Trump-style transactional diplomacy may grab headlines short-term, but long-term it risks losing international credibility.

From South Korea's perspective, we must guard against U.S. North Korea policy becoming a "Nobel Prize event." Negotiations with grand declarations but no substantive denuclearization or peace regime construction could destabilize Korean Peninsula security. If a second Trump administration launches, this tendency may intensify.

A Man Who Won the World but Was Still Hurt

As Irish writer Oscar Wilde said, some people "bring happiness wherever they go, and some whenever they go." Trump may be the latter. He holds the world's most powerful position, yet was hurt by not receiving one golden medal. He wanted not the Peace Prize, but "the desire to be recognized."

The Nobel Committee's decision was clear: Peace is not made by tweets but proven by sacrifice. Machado was imprisoned fighting dictatorship; Trump decorated social media from the White House. Oslo has already answered who the true apostle of peace is.