WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Oct 10 that Nobel Prize winner Maria Corina Machado called him and said she accepted the prize in his honour, after the White House said earlier in the day that the Nobel Committee had chosen “politics over peace.”

The White House had criticised the Nobel Committee’s decision to grant the peace prize to the Venezuelan opposition leader instead of Mr Trump, who aggressively lobbied for the award and touted his role in brokering international ceasefire deals.

“President Trump 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,” White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in a post on X.

“The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”

Asked about the Nobel on Oct 10 evening, Mr Trump did not directly criticise the Committee’s decision, but he credited himself for resolving several wars and said Ms Machado might have given him the award if he asked.

“The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me, and said, ‘I’m accepting this in honour of you, because you really deserved it,’“ Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“It’s a very nice thing to do. I didn’t say, ‘Then give it to me,’ though I think she might have. She was very nice.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee granted the annual award to Machado citing “courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist” authoritarian leadership.

Mr Trump had campaigned for the prize, and just this week announced

a ceasefire and hostage deal to end the war in Gaza

Mr...