Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize Gesture to Trump Draws Rebuff From Nobel Foundation
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who this month received the Nobel Peace Prize, traveled to Washington and publicly presented her Nobel medal to President Trump, saying she wanted to "share" or give him the prize in recognition of his role in actions against Nicolás Maduro. The Norwegian Nobel Institute and the Nobel Foundation promptly issued formal reminders that Nobel Prizes cannot be revoked, shared, transferred, or symbolically passed on, even as the White House praised Trump as deserving of the honor.
📌 Key Facts
- The Norwegian Nobel Institute and the Nobel Foundation both reiterated that Nobel Peace Prizes are non‑transferable — they cannot be revoked, shared, symbolically passed on, or reassigned after award; the decision is final and only designated Nobel bodies may confer the prize.
- María Corina Machado, who secretly left Venezuela to travel to Norway to accept the award, presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Trump at a White House meeting, saying she wanted to 'give it to him' or 'share it' on behalf of the Venezuelan people and praising his role in the U.S. operation that captured Nicolás Maduro.
- President Trump publicly embraced the gesture, saying sharing the prize would be 'a great honor,' and the White House — via spokesperson Anna Kelly — called him 'Peacemaker‑in‑Chief,' asserting he 'deserves the Nobel Peace Prize many times over' and pointing to his use of U.S. military and economic leverage to resolve conflicts.
- The Norwegian Nobel Institute initially pushed back on talk of any transfer before the White House meeting, and the Nobel Foundation issued a formal statement afterward emphasizing that prizes 'cannot, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed.'
- Alongside meetings in Washington, Machado held an unannounced private audience with Pope Leo XIV and met Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, asking the pope to intercede for political prisoners and seeking Vatican support for Venezuela's transition.
- Despite the meeting and the medal gesture, Trump has not endorsed Machado as Venezuela's leader — he has publicly said she lacks domestic support, has backed acting president Delcy Rodríguez after the raid that captured Maduro, and many opposition figures remain in exile or prison.
📊 Relevant Data
US sanctions on Venezuela under the Trump administration, starting in August 2017, prohibited the country's access to US financial markets, which contributed to worsening the economic and humanitarian crisis, including hyperinflation and increased migration outflows.
Sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis — Wikipedia
As of 2024, approximately 80% of Venezuela's population lives in poverty, with 53% in extreme poverty, and the Gini inequality coefficient reached 0.603, indicating high income inequality.
Venezuela Country Report 2024 — BTI Transformation Index
Indigenous and Afro-Venezuelans experience higher rates of multidimensional poverty compared to the national average, with factors such as economic precarity and poor public services contributing to these disparities.
Venezuela: More Than Mere Numbers — Wilson Center
A January 2026 poll found that a majority of Venezuelans believe María Corina Machado should lead the country following Nicolás Maduro's capture by US forces.
Venezuelans Say Machado Should Lead Country After Maduro's Capture — Bloomberg
Historical examples exist of Nobel Prize medals being sold, such as Norman Angell's 1933 Peace Prize medal sold at Sotheby's in 1983, though the prize itself cannot be officially transferred or shared according to Nobel rules.
Can a Nobel Prize be gifted or sold? Some have done it in the past — Euronews
The Venezuelan migration crisis, with over 8 million people fleeing since 2015, has been driven by factors including economic collapse, political repression, and US-led sanctions, leading to a brain drain and demographic shifts such as an aging population.
Decade of Distress Clouds Venezuela's Future — Gallup News
📰 Source Timeline (7)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Confirms that María Corina Machado physically presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Trump during a White House meeting last week and that Trump publicly embraced the gesture.
- Reports that the Nobel Foundation issued a formal statement Sunday saying a Nobel Prize 'cannot, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed' and reiterating that only specified bodies may award the prize to those who 'have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.'
- Adds that the Norwegian Nobel Institute had already tried to shut down the transfer before the meeting, stating that once a Nobel Prize is announced it 'cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others' and that the decision 'stands for all time.'
- Includes Machado’s Fox interview quote that she believes Trump 'deserves' the prize and that she presented it on behalf of the Venezuelan people for what she calls his role in 'liberating' the country from Nicolás Maduro.
- Pope Leo XIV held an unannounced private audience with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado at the Vatican on Monday, later confirmed in the Vatican’s daily bulletin.
- Machado says she asked the pope to 'intercede' for the release of 'all Venezuelans who remain kidnapped and disappeared,' referring to hundreds of political prisoners.
- Machado also met Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who served as nuncio to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013, underscoring institutional Vatican familiarity with the country.
- The article reiterates that Pope Leo has publicly called for Venezuela to remain an independent country after U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro and flew him to New York, and has urged protection of human and civil rights.
- AP recaps that Trump undercut opposition expectations by allowing Maduro’s vice president Delcy Rodríguez to assume control after the raid, leaving most opposition figures, including Machado, in exile or prison despite years of U.S. rhetorical backing.
- MSNBC piece reinforces that the Nobel Committee/Norwegian Nobel Institute has publicly reiterated the rule that Nobel Prizes are non‑transferable and cannot be shared or reassigned after the fact.
- It frames this clarification explicitly as a response to Trump’s public ranting and comments about deserving or receiving Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize, not just Machado’s statements.
- It highlights U.S. partisan/media reaction, treating the Nobel clarification as a rebuke to Trump’s effort to appropriate the honor symbolically.
- Confirms that María Corina Machado will meet President Trump at the White House on Thursday, according to a White House official.
- Clarifies that Trump has not endorsed Machado to lead Venezuela despite the meeting and her public praise.
- Reiterates Trump’s earlier dismissal of Machado’s domestic standing — saying she 'doesn't have the support' or 'respect' in Venezuela — while he asserts the U.S. is 'taking charge' of the country and its oil sector for potentially years.
- Provides Machado’s latest public framing that her Nobel Peace Prize represents the 'Venezuelan people' and that she wants to 'give it to him and share it with him,' even though the Nobel Institute says transfer is impossible.
- The White House, via spokesperson Anna Kelly, issued a written statement claiming Trump 'deserves the Nobel Peace Prize many times over' and calling him 'Peacemaker-in-Chief.'
- Kelly asserted that Trump’s 'direct involvement in major conflicts' and use of U.S. military and economic leverage have 'brought peace to decades-long wars around the world.'
- The article reiterates that Machado intended to hand her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump when they meet in Washington and that she had praised the U.S. raid in Caracas that captured Nicolás Maduro, while the Nobel Institute formally stated a Nobel Prize cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred once awarded.
- Direct quotation from the Norwegian Nobel Institute spelling out that a Nobel Prize 'cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others' and that the decision 'is final and stands for all time.'
- Additional detail that Machado 'secretly escaped Venezuela' to travel to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
- On-air exchange where Hannity presses Machado on whether she actually offered to give Trump the prize and her answer, 'Well, it hasn’t happened yet,' elaborating her intent to 'share' it with him.
- Trump’s latest televised comment that having the prize shared with him 'would be a great honor,' reiterating his eagerness for Nobel recognition.
- Reiteration that despite praising Machado on air and planning to meet her in Washington next week, Trump still publicly backs acting President Delcy Rodríguez—not Machado—as Venezuela’s interim leader.