Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during a White House meeting on January 15, 2026. Machado gifted the medal as a symbolic gesture of gratitude for Trump’s role in the US intervention that ousted Nicolás Maduro earlier that month.
“Symbol of Gratitude” for Trump’s “decisive action”
On January 15, 2026, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gifted her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal to Donald Trump during their first in-person meeting at the White House. Machado presented the medal as a “personal symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people” for Trump’s “principled and decisive action” in pursuit of a free Venezuela.
Trump accepted the physical medal, which was displayed in a large gold frame with an inscription acknowledging his “Extraordinary Leadership in Promoting Peace through Strength.” Machado compared the gift to the 1825 gesture when the Marquis de Lafayette sent a medal featuring George Washington to Venezuelan hero Simón Bolívar.
Nobel committee: Medal non-transferable
The Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Nobel Institute in Oslo responded with a firm clarification of the rules. The committee stated that while a physical medal can change owners, the title of Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked. Regardless of who possesses the medal, Machado remains the sole official recipient of the 2025 prize in historical records. Many Norwegian politicians expressed disbelief, with some calling the act “embarrassing,” “meaningless,” and “pathetic.”
Gift seen as strategic move to regain Trump endorsement
The gesture occurred as Trump appeared to sideline Machado in favor of dealing with acting President Delcy Rodríguez following the US capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026. Analysts viewed the gift as a strategic move by Machado to regain Trump’s endorsement and secure her movement’s role in Venezuela’s future governance. When Machado was first awarded the prize in October 2025, the Trump administration had criticized the decision, accusing the committee of placing “politics over peace” for not awarding it to Trump instead.
Trump to Norwegian PM: No longer obligated to “think purely of peace”
On January 18, 2026, a text exchange between Donald Trump and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was first reported by PBS, revealing that Trump no longer feels bound “to think purely of Peace” because the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not award him the Nobel Peace Prize. Prime Minister Støre clarified to Trump and in public statements that an independent committee, not the Norwegian government, awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials:
— Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) January 19, 2026
Dear Ambassador:
President Trump has asked that the…
