The Nobel Peace Prize committee issued a notably frosty clarification in the days leading up to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado handing her Nobel medal to Donald Trump during a visit to the White House, amid mounting international unease over the symbolism of the gesture.
Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2025 for her long-running campaign for democracy and human rights in Venezuela, described the meeting as a “historic day for Venezuelans”. It was her first in-person encounter with Trump and came just two weeks after US forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, transferring him to the United States to face drug-related charges.
Trump praised Machado during the meeting, calling it a “great honour” to host her and describing her as “a wonderful woman who has been through so much”. After leaving the White House, Machado addressed supporters in Spanish outside the building, telling them: “We can count on President Trump.”
She later confirmed to journalists that she had presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, calling it “a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom”.
🕊️ Nobel committee moves to distance itself
The gesture prompted a swift and unusually pointed response from the Nobel institutions. In the days before the White House visit, the Norwegian Nobel Committee issued a public communication titled Is it possible to revoke a Nobel Peace Prize? – a move widely interpreted as an attempt to set clear boundaries amid growing speculation that the prize was being politically repurposed.
The statement made clear that the committee has no power to revoke, transfer or share a Nobel Peace Prize, stressing that Alfred Nobel’s will and the foundation’s statutes provide no mechanism for altering an award once it has been made.
“It is not possible to revoke a Nobel Peace Prize,” the committee said. “A Nobel Prize can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time.”
The committee also emphasised that while it may observe a laureate’s future actions, it does not comment on them, reinforcing the idea that Machado’s post-award decisions fall outside its formal remit.
📜 A second reminder after White House visit
The tone sharpened further on Wednesday, the day after Machado’s visit, when the Nobel Peace Center’s official X account posted a message highlighting the status of Nobel medals. While acknowledging that medals can change physical ownership, the post stressed that the title of Nobel Peace Prize laureate remains permanently attached to the original recipient.
“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others,” the post read. “The decision is final and stands for all time. A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.”
The repetition of this language, closely mirroring last week’s statement, underlined the committee’s discomfort with suggestions that Trump had effectively become a co-recipient of the award.
🏛️ Trump, recognition and long-held ambitions
Trump has publicly lobbied for the Nobel Peace Prize for years, frequently citing his role in brokering international agreements and claiming credit for reducing global conflicts. While some of those claims have been contested, Trump has repeatedly argued that he deserved the award.
After Machado was named the 2025 laureate, Trump claimed she had called him personally and told him she was accepting the prize “in honour of you because you really deserved it”. That assertion was never confirmed by the Nobel Committee.
Last week, Machado fuelled further speculation by suggesting she intended to “share” the honour with Trump, prompting the Nobel institutions to reiterate that such a transfer is not possible under any circumstances.
🌎 Symbolism without endorsement
Despite the ceremony and warm rhetoric, Trump stopped short of endorsing Machado as Venezuela’s next leader. US officials confirmed that Washington continues to engage diplomatically with figures from Maduro’s former administration, including ex-vice president Delcy Rodríguez, reflecting the complexity of post-Maduro negotiations.
Machado has framed the medal presentation as symbolic rather than institutional. She likened the gesture to an episode from the 19th century in which the Marquis de Lafayette presented a medal bearing George Washington’s likeness to Simón Bolívar.
“And 200 years in history,” she said, “the people of Bolívar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal, in this case a medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
While supporters see the moment as a powerful symbol of US-Venezuelan solidarity, critics argue it risks politicising an award designed to stand above contemporary power struggles. The Nobel Committee’s repeated interventions suggest it is keen to ensure that, whatever meaning Machado attaches to her actions, the prize itself remains institutionally untouched.
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