Has Trump Been Disqualified From Receiving A Nobel Peace Prize Nomination? Inside The Rumor

President Donald Trump, who has been on a personal campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize since the start of his second term, lost to María Corina Machado on October 10, 2025 (a major shock to Trump's ego, surely). His loss follows an online rumor that the president had actually been removed from the nomination list, despite his endorsement from government leaders, like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a tweet from popular X user, @mmpadellan, was posted on October 6, 2025. The tweet read, "They don't give Nobel Peace Prizes to jacka**es like Trump who send the military to cities like Portland and Chicago with the intention of escalating tensions and inciting violence.", paired with a graphic, "BREAKING: Nobel Committee quietly removes Trump's name from Peace Prize nominee list."

A context note was quickly added to the tweet by users stating, "The nominations list is private, and not made public until 50 years after it is awarded. The meme said the removal was done 'quietly,' yet it also shows what appears to be a headline of an announcement on the Nobel website." Before the intrigue died down, a second account, @torontobaddy, shared an even more misleading post that appeared to show factual support of @mmpadellan's tweet from an Associated Press news release that claimed Trump had been permanently disqualified from the 2025 prize and all future prizes. Though the tweet was later deleted by @torontobaddy, it led to large-scale misinformation for hundreds of thousands of X users. 

Following the outcry online, Newsweek reached out to the Norwegian Nobel Institute's head of media communications for confirmation on the information that had been circulating on X. "The Norwegian Nobel Committee doesn't make this kind of statements and never disqualified a proposed candidate. There is no public list of nominees. The Nobel Committee does not disclose the names of nominees—neither to the media nor to the candidates themselves," the communications head told Newsweek. They were able to confirm one piece of the information swirled into the mess of falsifications: the names of nominators and nominees are kept secret for 50 years.

Newsweek additionally reached out to Associated Press to address the since-deleted screenshot shared by @torontobaddy. AP denied that the photo was of a real press release drafted by the news outlet. The cycle of social media that feeds off of clickbait and misinformation, rumors thrive — especially when those rumors center on controversial individuals like the president of the United States. Now, Donald Trump is no stranger to rumors, but the speculation of his inability to be nominated for — let alone win — a Nobel Peace Prize definitely bruised his pride.