Trump Gets A “Second-Hand” Nobel Peace Prize Medal From Venezuelan Opp Leader! But How?

Washington:Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal to U.S. President Donald Trump during a White House meeting on Thursday, effectively passing along what has become a “second-hand” symbol of the prestigious award.

Trump accepted the 18-karat gold medal and described the gesture as a “wonderful moment of mutual respect” in a social media post. He further thanked Machado for recognizing his “work”, a nod to his long-standing claims of deserving the prize himself for allegedly stopping multiple wars. More recently, his administration’s role in the U.S. operation that led to the capture of Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize in October for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” had previously dedicated the honor to Trump and the Venezuelan people. She framed the presentation as a historic reciprocity, likening it to the 19th-century gesture where the Marquis de Lafayette sent a medal bearing George Washington’s image to Simón Bolívar.

However, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has made it clear that while the physical medal can change hands, as Machado is free to gift or dispose of her personal property, the Nobel Peace Prize itself cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred.

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

“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time,” the Committee and Nobel Peace Center stated in recent clarifications, including posts on X. “A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot”, it said.

The statutes of the Nobel Foundation (Section 10) explicitly state that no appeals can be made against a prize-awarding body’s decision, and no committee has ever revoked an award. The Committee’s role ends with the announcement; it does not comment on or judge laureates’ subsequent actions or statements.

Trump has repeatedly lobbied for the Nobel Peace Prize, boasting of preventing or ending conflicts and expressing frustration when the 2025 award went to Machado instead.

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