PEACE PRIZE FOR A WAR ADMINISTRATION? đŸ€”đŸ† Maria Corina Machado handed her Nobel Peace Prize medal to D.o.n.a.l.d T.r.u.m.p, calling it recognition for his actions in Venezuela even after U.S. special forces seized Maduro and tensions soared. Critics say this is the ultimate irony: a peace honour handed after military intervention, war threats, and geopolitical power plays.

Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner gives her medal to Donald Trump

Maria Machado and Donald Trump with her Nobel medal

Maria Corina Machado handed her peace prize to Donald Trump (Picture: White House)

Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, handed her peace prize to Donald Trump, sparking a pointed reaction from the Nobel committee.

Trump posed beaming next to Machado in the Oval Office, holding the medal encased in a glitzy golden frame.

Machado, Venezuela’s main opposition leader, who lives in exile in the US, received the iconic Nobel Peace Prize in October for her ongoing struggle to help rescue her country from its future as ‘a brutal, authoritarian state.’

She said it was ‘a historic day for us Venezuelans’ after meeting Trump for the first time yesterday and handing over her prize in the White House.

The US president said on Truth Social after the meeting: ‘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!’

However, the Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee appeared dismayed by the move, saying the honour cannot be passed on or shared with anyone else.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado walks on the day of a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 15, 2026.
Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, 58, who fled her persecution in her country in 2017, arrived at her first face-to-face meeting with Trump (Picture: Reuters)
It said in a social media post: ‘Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.’
The Nobel Peace Center, which houses the original gold medal in Oslo, issued a statement, saying ‘a medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.’

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