Once again, five otherwise obscure individuals on the Nobel Committee in Oslo, chosen by the Norwegian parliament, made controversial news in giving out their Peace Prize, the world’s most sought-after award. They did so for the best of reasons, for this year’s laureate — Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela — is as deserving as any has ever been.

Machado, as the committee put it, is known for her tireless work promoting democracy for Venezuelans and her struggle against dictatorship. That dictator is her nemesis, Nicolas Maduro. If Venezuela were free, Machado would probably be president instead of him. As it is, she’s in hiding to evade capture or worse, while still leading the opposition against him — and giving hope to Venezuelans and all others who love liberty.

And yet it’s impossible to overlook a candidate the committee conspicuously omitted: U.S. President Donald Trump. He took his second oath of office only 11 days before this year’s deadline for nominations and so couldn’t reasonably have won the 2025 award anyway, even if his latest — and laudable — efforts to bring peace to Gaza prove successful. Then again, Oslo did once give the medal "on spec” to an American president in his first year: Barack Obama in 2009. Even the committee members soon realized that this decision had been rushed and looked vaguely ridiculous. Trump, though, remains obsessed with it; somehow, he inferred that it entitled him to the Nobel now.