Netanyahu says he nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize. From there,
it's a secretive process
[July 09, 2025]
By The Associated Press
U.S. President Donald Trump has been nominated again for the Nobel Peace
Prize.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump on Monday that he
recommended him for the prestigious award, handing the American leader
the letter he said he sent the Nobel committee.
Trump has been nominated several times by people within the U.S. as well
as politicians abroad — but that's only one small step in the secretive
process.
Trump's previous nominations
Trump's nominators have included a group of U.S. House Republicans and
two Norwegian lawmakers. The groups separately nominated him in 2018 for
his work to ease nuclear tensions with North Korea. One of the
Norwegians nominated him again for the 2021 prize for his efforts in the
Middle East, as did a Swedish lawmaker.
Not all of the nominations have been valid: The Norwegian Nobel
Committee, which selects the prize winners, said in 2018 that someone
using a stolen identity had nominated Trump at least twice.
Nominations can be made by a select group of people and organizations,
including heads of state or politicians serving at a national level,
university professors, directors of foreign policy institutes, past
Nobel Prize recipients and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
itself.
Secret process
Once all nominations have come in, the committee — made up of five
members appointed by the Norwegian parliament — sifts through them and
ensures they were made by an eligible nominator.
A person cannot nominate themselves, according to the committee.
The nominations aren’t announced by the committee, and the Nobel
statutes prohibit the judges from discussing their deliberations for 50
years. But those doing the nominating may choose to make their
recommendations public.
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, hands President
Donald Trump a folder during a meeting in the Blue Room of the White
House, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Nominations must be submitted before Feb. 1 each year — meaning any
recent Netanyahu nomination would be for the 2026 prize. The winners
are announced every October, with award ceremonies taking place on
Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
The prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace
were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, a wealthy Swedish
industrialist and the inventor of dynamite. An economics prize was
later established by Sweden's central bank and is presented at the
same time.
How to win the peace prize
According to Nobel’s wishes, the peace prize should go to “the
person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity
between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies
and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
The peace prize committee is the only one that regularly rewards
achievements made in the previous year — and the prize is the only
one awarded in Oslo, Norway. For the science-related prizes,
scientists often have to wait decades to have their work recognized
by the Nobel judges, who want to make sure that any breakthrough
stands the test of time, in Stockholm.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama won the peace prize in 2009,
barely nine months into his first term. It was met with fierce
criticism in the U.S., where many argued Obama had not been in
office long enough to have an impact worthy of the Nobel.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002
for work he did after leaving the White House.
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