As Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize, a secretive process is underway

US President Donald Trump has been nominated again for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump on Monday that he had 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 US 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 US 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.

Nominations must be submitted before February 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 December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.

The prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace were established by the will of 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 US President Barack Obama won the peace prize in 2009, barely nine months into his first term. It was met with fierce criticism in the US, where many argued Obama had not been in office long enough to have an impact worthy of the Nobel.

Former US President Jimmy Carter won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for work he did after leaving the White House.