María Corina Machado was spotted exiting the White House with a Trump-themed goodie bag after presenting her Nobel Peace Prize to the US president.
Donald Trump has openly expressed his desire to obtain the Nobel Peace Prize and showed some tension towards Machado when she received it in 2025 for her efforts against the regime of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela.
In a remarkable gesture, Machado decided to give her medal to Trump, stating it was ‘recognition for his unique commitment to our freedom’.
This isn’t the first instance of someone parting with their Nobel Prize medal as a sign of political alliance.
Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920, later handed over his medal to Nazi official Joseph Goebbels in 1943, demonstrating his support.
The Nobel Committee disapproved of Machado’s action, declaring on social media: “A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel peace prize laureate cannot.”
They further clarified that the award ‘cannot be revoked, shared or transferred’.
Machado, an admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, gave her medal to Trump following his military action in Caracas and the US special forces’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, labeling him a ‘narco-terrorist’.
The medal was enclosed in a golden frame, with an inscription that stated: “To President Donald J. Trump, in gratitude for your extraordinary leadership in promoting peace through strength, advancing diplomacy and defending liberty and prosperity.
“In recognition of President Trump’s principled and decisive action to secure a free Venezuela.”
After presenting the medal, Machado was seen leaving the White House with a bag designed in Trump’s signature MAGA red, featuring the president’s autograph in gold.
Machado’s action was met with criticism by Kirsti Bergstø, Norway’s foreign policy spokesperson and leader of the Socialist Left party, who said: “This is, above all, absurd. The peace prize cannot be given away.”
She further remarked: “Trump will no doubt claim that he has now received it, but it cannot be transferred, and Trump’s repeated threats toward Greenland clearly demonstrate why it would have been madness to award him the prize.”
Machado’s decision to give her medal to Trump occurred shortly after he refrained from endorsing her as the president of Venezuela following Maduro’s detainment by US forces.
Earlier in January, Trump mentioned that becoming president would be ‘very tough’ for Machado, as she ‘doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country’.