Trump-Machado Nobel meet: Medal owners have changed in past, not the title

After Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado stated on Thursday that she had presented her Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump, the Nobel Peace Prize organisers clarified that the medal can change its owner, but the title will never be altered. On Thursday, Machado told reporters that she presented the prestigious award she won last year to Trump during a closed-door meeting at the White House.

“One truth remains. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee states: “Once a Nobel Peace Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time,” the organisers wrote in a post on X after Machado’s revelation. “A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot,” the committee furthered.

The #NobelPeacePrize medal.

It measures 6.6 cm in diameter, weighs 196 grams and is struck in gold. On its face, a portrait of Alfred Nobel and on its reverse, three naked men holding around each other’s shoulders as a sign of brotherhood. A design unchanged for 120 years.

Did… pic.twitter.com/Jdjgf3Ud2A

— Nobel Peace Center (@NobelPeaceOslo) January 15, 2026

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In the same post, the Norwegian body mentioned how the recipients have passed the Nobel Prize in the past. “Did you know that some Nobel Peace Prize medals have been passed on after the award was given? A well‑known case is Dmitry Muratov’s medal, which was auctioned for over USD 100 million to support refugees from the war in Ukraine,” the Committee noted.

“And the medal displayed at the Nobel Peace Centre is actually on loan and originally belonged to Christian Lous Lange, Norway’s first Peace Prize laureate,” it furthered.

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‘Thank you, Maria’: Trump

Meanwhile, right after the meeting, Trump took to his social media platform TruthSocial to thank the Venezuelan opposition leader. “It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you, María!” Trump wrote in the post.

The meeting between the two world leaders took place just a fortnight after US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after striking Caracas. Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her struggle against Maduro’s “brutal, authoritarian state”. While speaking to the reporters after she met with Trump, the Venezuelan opposition leader said that she had done so “in recognition [of] his unique commitment [to] our freedom”. However, it is unclear if Trump has accepted the award or not.

Following the ousting of Maduro, opposition supporters in Venezuela hoped that Trump would recognise the 58-year-old conservative politician as the leader of the Latin American nation. Instead, he gave a nod to the dictator’s second-in-command, the vice-president Delcy Rodríguez, who was subsequently sworn in as acting president. Hence, many are looking at the move as a bid to appease Trump.