The Nobel committee sent a pointed message reiterating that its prizes ‘cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others’ in the wake of Maria Corina Machado gifting hers to Donald Trump. The president posed for a photo in the Oval Office smiling widely as he held his the prize and stood next to Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition party. Machado told reporters in Capitol Hill on Thursday afternoon that she had given Trump her medal, which she won last year due to her commitment to turning Venezuela into a democracy. However, the Norwegian Nobel Committee posted a lengthy tweet Thursday that noted while many prizes ‘have been passed on’ after the winner’s death, they cannot be gifted. ‘A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.’
Nobel committee rejects prize transfer
They repeated the official ruling they published last week: ‘But one truth remains. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee states: Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.’ Machado didn’t listen, recalling to reporters how a medal commissioned for President George Washington was presented to the family of French military officer Marquis de Lafayette, who had helped the Americans win the Revolution. ‘I presented the president of the United States, the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,’ she said. Trump thanked Machado on Truth Social: ‘It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!’
Machado said she bestowed the medal on Trump, calling him the ‘heir of Washington’, because the president had made a ‘unique commitment with our freedom’. The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment. Trump had publicly lobbied to win the Nobel Peace Prize last year. The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment. The president did not invite the press into the meeting, so there were no immediate photographs of Trump with the prize.
The U.S. push for Venezuelan oil
Ahead of their White House meeting, the first since the United States military captured and imprisoned Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolas Maduro, Machado expressed that she was open to giftingTrump the Nobel. While the U.S. government’s stance was that Maduro did not rightfully win the 2024 election – with the winner being a member of Machado’s opposition movement after she was barred from running herself – Trump has not pushed for full regime change in Venezuela despite arresting its leader. Instead, the U.S. government has been working with Maduro’s No. 2, Delcy Rodriguez, who’s become the country’s acting president. Last week, the president hosted leaders of oil companies to the White House, pushing them to invest in Venezuela, with some company heads expressing doubts due to the country’s previous political instability and history of seizing oil company assets.
But that didn’t deter Trump from continuing to work with the current regime. In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Trump spoke of the ‘fascinating talk’ he had with Rodriguez, saying: ‘She’s been very good to deal with.’ As for Machado, he added, ‘She’s a very nice woman. I think we’re just going to talk basics,’ Trump said. The White House has yet to provide a readout of their meeting. Machado was captured smiling and walking out onto Pennsylvania Avenue when she departed from the White House meeting. Her trip to Washington, D.C., marked an end to Machado’s political isolation.
The opposition leader has been in hiding since she was briefly detained by Maduro’s government in Caracas last year, fleeing the country afterward. Cheering supporters met Machado outside the White House’s gate, the Associated Press reported. She then headed to Capitol Hill to meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Republicans, including Senators Ted Cruz and Rick Scott, posed alongside Democratic Senators Durbin, Alex Padilla, Ruben Gallego, Peter Welch and others. Machado ignored shouted questions about how her meeting with Trump went.
