Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado presents medal to Donald Trump

PTC Web Desk:  Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote democratic rights in Venezuela, has hit the headlines with an extraordinary gesture at the White House. Machado presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump in a symbolic act of gratitude for what she described as his support for Venezuela’s “struggle for freedom.”

The meeting, held on January 15,  brought the two leaders together amid intense international and domestic debate over Venezuela’s future. Machado’s decision to give Trump her medal was widely interpreted as an attempt to strengthen political backing at a time when she seeks continued support for democratic transition efforts.

Trump acknowledged Machado’s gesture publicly, thanking her and calling her “a wonderful woman who has been through so much.” Photos released by the White House showed Trump holding the framed Nobel medal, although officials have not said how he plans to display or use it.

Nobel rules remain clear

Despite accepting the medal from Machado, Trump does not become a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. According to the Nobel Foundation’s statutes, the official title and honour of prize winner remain with the original recipient and cannot be transferred, shared or revoked once awarded. While a laureate may choose to give away the physical medal, the honour itself is permanent and exclusive to the person selected by the Nobel Committee.

Machado, a long-time critic of the late Nicolás Maduro regime, was recognised with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her leadership in uniting opposition forces and advocating peaceful democratic reform. Her meeting with Trump comes after her party’s contested victory in Venezuela’s 2024 elections, a disputed US military operation that led to Maduro’s capture, and ongoing debates over the legitimacy of the country’s interim government under Delcy Rodríguez.