When Donald Trump spoke in support of Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado

Opposition activist María Corina Machado of Venezuela won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, even as President Donald Trump was passed over for the accolade despite jockeying from his fellow Republicans, various world leaders and - most vocally - himself.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was honoring her "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy".

Trump, who has long coveted the prestigious prize, has been outspoken about his desire for the honour during both of his presidential terms, particularly lately as he takes credit for ending conflicts around the world. He has expressed doubts that the Nobel committee would ever grant him the award.

"They'll have to do what they do. Whatever they do is fine. I know this: I didn't do it for that. I did it because I saved a lot of lives," Trump said on Thursday.

Although Trump received a number of nominations for the prize, many of them occurred after the February 1 deadline for the 2025 award, which fell just a week and a half into his first term. His name was, however, put forth in December by Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York, her office said in a statement, for his brokering of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel and several Arab states in 2020.

Machado, the former opposition presidential candidate in Venezuela, was lauded for being a "key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided - an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government," said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.

"In the past year, Miss Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist."

President Nicolás Maduro's government routinely targeted its real or perceived opponents ahead of last year's presidential election.

Machado was set to run against Maduro, but the government disqualified her. Edmundo González took her place. He had never run for office before. The lead-up to the election saw widespread repression including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations.

The crackdown on dissent only increased after the country's National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.

The election results announced by the Electoral Council sparked protests across the country to which the government responded with force and ended with more than 20 people dead. They also prompted an end to diplomatic relations between Venezuela and various foreign countries, including Argentina.

Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since January. A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González, who moved to Spain and was granted asylum.

Last year, Machado and González were awarded the European Union's top human rights honour, The Sakharov Prize.

“Venezuelan democracy activist Maria Corina Machado and president-elect Gonzalez are peacefully expressing the voices and the will of the Venezuelan people with hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating against the regime. The great Venezuelan American community in the United States overwhelmingly support a free Venezuela, and strongly supported me. These freedom fighters should not be harmed, and MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!,” Trump said in January.

Machado had been leading massive protests against Maduro's government when she was detained after security forces intercepted her convoy following an anti-government rally in Caracas.

Witnesses reported gunfire as her motorcycle was forced off the road and she was forcibly taken away.

However, in a message on X later, Machado said that she was "in a safe place and with more determination than ever to continue by your side UNTIL THE END!"

The prize comes with a gold medal, a diploma and a prize sum of $1.2 million. The award will be presented at a formal ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of the prizes' creator, Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel. The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo, with the other disciplines announced in Stockholm.

With inputs from agencies