Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said President Donald Trump “deserved” the Nobel Peace Prize after she presented him with her Nobel medal during a White House visit on Thursday, calling the moment “emotional.”
Machado made the comments in a teased interview with Fox & Friends Weekend host Rachel Campos-Duffy, where she described personally handing the medal to Trump in a gilded frame.
“Why did you do that?” the host asked.
Machado replied: “Because he deserved it. It was a very emotional moment. I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela.”
Fox News also reported that Machado praised Trump for helping deliver freedom “not only [for] the Venezuelan people, but I would say the whole hemisphere,” pointing to what she described as Trump’s role in confronting the Maduro regime.
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Nobel officials say the award can’t be “transferred”
The symbolic handoff came just a day after the Norwegian Nobel Institute publicly warned that the Nobel Peace Prize “cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others.”
That statement followed Machado’s recent suggestion that she wanted to “share” recognition with Trump—an idea Nobel officials made clear is not possible under Nobel rules, even if the physical medal changes hands.
CBS News, citing White House officials, reported the medal Machado gave Trump was her real Nobel Peace Prize medallion, not a replica.
Trump celebrates the gift on Truth Social
Trump reacted enthusiastically online late Thursday, calling the medal “for the work I have done” and describing it as “a wonderful gesture of mutual respect,” according to multiple reports.
The White House also posted a photo of Trump and Machado posing with the Nobel medal, highlighting the meeting and the Venezuelan opposition leader’s show of support.
Machado: “It went very well”
Machado said the meeting itself was productive, framing it as a long-awaited opportunity to speak directly with the president.
Speaking more generally about the visit, she told Fox News: “It went very well. I’m very grateful for the opportunity I had to speak with President Trump. Something I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time.”
Trump’s long-running Nobel argument
Machado’s decision to honor Trump also plays into a familiar theme for the president: for years, Trump has argued that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic efforts, particularly the Abraham Accords and other Middle East initiatives that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that his accomplishments were ignored by what he and his allies describe as an international political establishment that often gives more credit to globalist leaders than to outsiders pushing major change.
