Despite President Donald Trump's unrelenting work to stop overseas wars and his fight to preserve democracy in the United States — including coming under bullet fire while running for the White House in 2024 — the Nobel Peace Prize has gone elsewhere once again, this time to Venezuelan opposition activist Maria Corina Machado.

However, Trump's case for the prestigious award next year is growing stronger, considering his work toward peace in Gaza and Ukraine and other factors.

The nomination deadline was Feb. 1, 2025, and the White House is condemning what it calls a political snub after the Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the prize to Machado "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."

The committee's decision, announced in Oslo, closed the door on what many believe should have been Trump's long-awaited Nobel moment, saying his record of diplomacy already merits Nobel recognition.

"President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives," White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in a post on X on Friday. "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."

The Case for Trump's Nobel: 'Peace Through Strength'

From brokering cease-fires between Cambodia and Thailand, mediating border resolutions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and easing nuclear tensions with Pakistan and India, to expanding the Abraham Accords across the Middle East and North Africa — supporters say he has achieved what past laureates could only promise.

"Only four U.S. presidents — Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama — have won the Nobel Peace Prize," said Newsmax's Rob Astorino, host of "Saturday Agenda." "Trump should be the fifth. He's the most consequential president in our lifetime, possibly in our country's history."

Surviving Assassination Attempts: 'Fight, Fight, Fight!'

Trump's renewed focus on peace has come in the shadow of personal peril. In July 2024, a gunman opened fire at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, narrowly missing the then-former president.

The shocking scene, captured live on camera, showed Trump being rushed from the stage by Secret Service agents — bloodied but defiant — as he raised his fist and shouted, "Fight, fight, fight!"

The phrase quickly became a rallying cry for his supporters and a symbol of resilience. According to 911 calls obtained by Newsmax, agents and attendees scrambled for cover as law enforcement neutralized the attacker, preventing what officials later described as an "attempted assassination of a presidential candidate."

Then, in September 2024, another would-be assassin — Ryan Routh — was arrested near Trump's Florida residence. Authorities said Routh was armed and had allegedly been plotting to kill the president, adding to a growing list of threats that have shadowed Trump's political career.

The twin incidents, both within months of each other, underscored the volatility of the 2024 campaign and strengthened Trump's own conviction that his mission is about more than politics. Despite the dangers, he has told supporters that "no bullet can stop the movement to save America."

A 20-Point Plan and a Turning Point for Peace

At the heart of Trump's argument for future recognition is his 20-point Peace Plan, a sweeping initiative aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — the longest and bloodiest struggle of the modern era.

While questions remain about the plan's implementation, recent breakthroughs have drawn cautious optimism even from former critics. Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, wrote Thursday on X that "we should all be encouraged and relieved that an end to the conflict is within sight."

That acknowledgment didn't go unnoticed by Trump's allies. Donald Trump Jr. replied: "I'll finish it for you. 'Thank you, Donald Trump.'"

Veteran Israeli diplomat Nimrod Novik, who worked on the 1994 Oslo Accords, said Trump's diplomatic persistence already puts him in the company of Nobel laureates.

"Notwithstanding my skepticism that the second phase of Trump's 20-Point Plan ever comes to fruition, I believe that Trump has won his place among Nobel laureates," Novik told Newsmax.

2025: The Year the Committee Can Right a Wrong?

White House officials and allies believe the Nobel Committee has "placed politics over peace," but say the president's work will ultimately speak for itself.

Astorino argues the Nobel Committee will have another chance in 2025 to "do the right thing."

"Trump has restored America's credibility, contained Iran, and inspired hope across continents," Astorino said. "He doesn't just make peace deals; he changes history."

Trump's defenders note that hundreds of millions worldwide now benefit from his diplomacy — from normalized relations in the Middle East to nuclear de-escalation in Asia and revived stability in Africa.

"God had bigger plans for him," Astorino added, likening Trump to "Godzilla marching through Tokyo — knocking down everything that does this nation harm."

He added that in the first 200 days of his current term, Trump has "closed the border, made us safer; got the economy humming again; put a bull's-eye on antisemitism, discrimination, and protecting our children."

'Already Earned His Due'

For now, Trump's Nobel ambitions remain unfulfilled. But in Washington, few doubt that his international legacy continues to expand — and that 2025 could bring long-overdue recognition.

"The Nobel Committee may have denied him the medal," Astorino said, "but history already has."