WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's dream of becoming a Nobel laureate did not come true this year, although the prizewinner dedicated the honor to him, in part, for supporting her cause.

The Norwegian committee that determines the winner of the prestigious awards passed Trump over for the peace prize he coveted, in the hope that he might win for normalizing diplomatic relations between a handful of nations.

The award went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for promoting democratic rights in her country and her struggle to achieve a transition to democracy, the committee said.

Machado dedicated her prize to the Venezuelan people and Trump "for his decisive support of our cause!"

"We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy," Machado wrote on social media.

Trump brokered a historic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to formalize ties between the countries during his first term in office. Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan signed the accords, which Trump hoped to expand to include other nations.

The American president was also nominated for the Peace Prize for various agreements he struck to resolve crises and conflicts this year – but the submissions from the leaders of Cambodia, Pakistan and other nations came after the committee's Jan. 31 deadline.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "I don't know whether he's worthy of it or not," Reuters reported.

The White House responded to the Nobel committee snub by declaring it was playing politics.

"The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace," White House Communications Director Steven Cheung wrote on social media.

The committee's decision not to award Trump the prize came as no surprise. He mused earlier in the year that he would "never" win the esteemed recognition, which has only been awarded to four previous U.S. presidents,

“They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize,” Trump said during a Feb. 4 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. “It's too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”

Asked by a reporter if he thought he would win the prize on Oct. 8, Trump said during a roundtable: "I have no idea."

Trump, who said he'd resolved "seven wars" throughout his presidency and was working to end the war in Gaza, said, "Perhaps they'll find a reason not to give it to me, you know. Perhaps they will."

Former U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama previously won the prestigious award.

Trump groused on Oct. 9 that "Obama got a prize for doing nothing" during an Oval Office meeting on the eve of the citation.

The Nobel Committee does not disclose the names of nominees who were not chosen, but it said before the announcement that there were 338 candidates, 244 of whom were individuals and 94 others that were organizations.

New York Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican, publicly disclosed that she nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize for the Abraham Accords. Netanyahu also said he would nominate Trump for his role in the accords during a White House visit in July.

Trump hopes to expand the agreement to include countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Contributing: Zac Anderson

This story has been updated.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump didn't win the Nobel prize he coveted, but prizewinner dedicated it, in part, to him

Reporting by Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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