Eyes on Oslo: Will Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize?

The winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday in Oslo, Norway, at 11:00 a.m. local time, with all eyes on one question: Could U.S. President Donald Trump be the one to receive it?

Israeli President Isaac Herzog praised Trump’s involvement in brokering the agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war.

"There is no doubt he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for that," Herzog wrote on 𝕏, calling the deal "an opportunity to repair, to heal, and to open a new horizon of hope for our region."

Trump himself, unsurprisingly, is eyeing Oslo as well. He refers to himself as the "President of Peace" and has claimed that he ended six or seven wars during his term, including the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, tensions between India and Pakistan, and conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia.

The end of the Gaza war, he insists, is entirely his doing.

In June, Trump said the Nobel Committee “should give” him the prize, and that he “should have received it four or five times already.”

In September, he told the UN that "everyone says" he deserves the prize.

Is it possible?

According to the official Nobel Peace Prize website, the award is meant to go to a person who has made significant contributions to the promotion of peace worldwide.

The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo by a committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament – unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded in Sweden.

Any person or organization can become a nominee – but only if proposed by an approved nominator. According to the website, these include members of national assemblies, government officials, members of international courts like the International Court of Justice, university professors or directors, past Nobel laureates, and members of the Nobel Committee itself.

The deadline for submitting nominations was Jan. 31, and over 330 nominations were submitted for the 2025 Peace Prize.

The Committee does not publicly comment on the names of nominees, and that information remains sealed for 50 years.

After the deadline, the Nobel Committee reviews the nominees and compiles a shortlist of "the most interesting and worthy candidates." Those on the shortlist are then subject to thorough evaluation by committee members.

Trump was submitted as a nominee by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July – months after the deadline – and by the Pakistani government a month earlier. This week, the Hostage Families Forum called on the committee to award him the prize for his “unwavering commitment and exceptional leadership.”

Four Key Questions Surrounding Trump’s Potential Nomination:

1. Was he nominated before the deadline (January), and by an eligible nominator?

2. If not nominated before the deadline, can late submissions still be considered? This remains unclear and unconfirmed.

3. Will the Committee now consider Trump worthy – when it did not during his first term – especially when it awarded Obama the prize despite him not brokering any peace agreements?

4. Will Trump’s intense international pressure campaign help him – or hurt his chances – as the committee may wish to assert its independence in response?