María Corina Machado gives her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump

On 15 January 2026, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to U.S. President Donald Trump during a White House meeting, describing it as a gesture of gratitude for what she framed as his role in Venezuela’s political shift. In a highly unusual political gesture, Machado handed Trump the physical Nobel medal associated with her Peace Prize. The act generated immediate international attention and debate, especially because Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in receiving the Nobel Peace Prize himself. Soon after, the Nobel authorities emphasized an important distinction: the Nobel Peace Prize title and recognition remain inseparable from the laureate, even if the physical medal is gifted to someone else. In other words, Trump could possess the medal, but that does not make him a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.