Donald Trump, AP file photoThe TOI correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump’s MAGA minions went into major meltdown on Friday after the Norwegian Nobel Committee snubbed him by awarding the 2025 Peace Prize to Venezuelan democracy activist Maria Corina Machado. Trump himself offered no reaction – not even a congratulatory message to the winner — after having campaigned fervidly for the award saying it would be an insult to the US if he did not get the prize for purportedly resolving seven conflicts across the world. But MAGA megaphones, including White House officials, vent their fury at the rebuff even as the Norwegian government bunkered down for the blowback. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.” White House communications chief Steven Cheung said soon after the winner was announced. “Imagine thinking a woman who cries nonstop about Nicolas Maduro has done more for the world than President Trump. What an absolute joke,” MAGA gadabout Laura Loomer chimed in, calling the award for Machado “more affirmative action nonsense.”While announcing the Prize for Machado, the Nobel committee left no doubt that she was a more deserving candidate, implicitly expressing skepticism about Trump’s incessant bragging about having worked for peace amid his own record at home where he has begun militarising cities and persecuting critics.The committee said Machado, 58, is receiving the Prize first and foremost for her efforts to advance democracy in Venezuela at a time democracy is also in retreat internationally. Calling her a “brave and committed champion of peace who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness,” the committee later said in a post on X that it wanted to send a message to all authoritarian leaders: “choose ballots, not bullets.” Asked directly after the announcement about Trump’s campaigning for the prize, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, acknowledged the lobbying but cryptically noted, “This committee sits in a room full of portraits of all laureates, filled with courage and integrity.” Some commentators in the US noted that he could have simply said most nominations for Trump were received after the January 31 deadline but he chose not to and instead implicitly criticised the US president. Trump critics and supporters both viewed several other remarks and posts by the committee as trolling, driving MAGA partisans to rage. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The Noble Peace Prize is a participation trophy,” one MAGA commentator fumed, misspelling Nobel. Many of them are incensed that Democrat leaders, including Barack Obama, Al Gore, and Jimmy Carter, have won the prize but Republicans have been denied. They believe that Trump truly deserved the prize, particularly in the context of the truce he has effected in Gaza. White House comms chief Steven Cheung, known for his vituperative smackdowns of Trump critics, said the president will “continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives.” “He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” Cheung said, even as Trump was scheduled for a health check before heading out to the Middle East to preside over the peace deal he had hoped would fetch him the Nobel. Meanwhile, international observers and the global media expressed fears for Norway from a vindictive US president. Norway’s trade minister Cecilie Myrseth is expected in Washington DC this week to negotiate on tariffs amid concerns over the country’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund—the world’s biggest— about half of which is tied up in the US markets.