Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado handed President Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal during a private White House meeting on Thursday.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee was quick to point out that the honour itself cannot actually be transferred. Still, the 18-karat gold medal now sits somewhere in the White House, and Trump hasn't said what he plans to do with it.
Machado won the 2025 prize for her campaign to advance Venezuelan democracy. But her meeting with Trump was oddly low-key. Unlike his usual Oval Office photo ops with foreign leaders, Trump kept this one away from reporters and cameras, according to Al Jazeera.
'Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect,' Trump wrote on Truth Social afterward. The White House later released a photo of the two standing together, Trump holding a gold-framed plaque with the medal inside.
Nobel Committee Sets the Record Straight
The Oslo-based Nobel Peace Centre wasted no time weighing in. 'A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot,' the committee posted on X, CNN reported. Machado remains the official 2025 laureate no matter where the physical medal ends up.
Winners also receive about $1.1 million (£890,000) in prize money. Machado hasn't said anything about handing that over.
Why give Trump the medal at all? Machado framed it as a nod to history. She told reporters that 200 years ago, the Marquis de Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington's face on it.
'The people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal, in this case a medal of the Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition for his unique commitment to our freedom,' she said, according to NBC News.
The #NobelPeacePrize medal.
— Nobel Peace Center (@NobelPeaceOslo) January 15, 2026
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
A Medal But No Clear Path to Power
For all the ceremony, Machado left the White House without much clarity on her political future. She was photographed carrying a Trump-branded swag bag on her way out. What she didn't get was any public commitment of support from the administration.
Trump has backed Delcy Rodriguez, who served as vice president under deposed strongman Nicolas Maduro, as Venezuela's acting president. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Trump's view of Machado hasn't budged.
'At this moment in time, his opinion on that matter has not changed,' Leavitt said. Trump had earlier called Machado a 'very nice woman' but said she lacked 'respect' inside Venezuela.
Machado put a positive spin on things anyway, calling the meeting 'historic' and 'extraordinary'. She said the Trump administration understood the need to rebuild institutions and protect human rights, and she stressed that Venezuela already has a president-elect in Edmundo Gonzalez, the opposition candidate the US had previously recognised after the disputed 2024 election.
Trump's Long Quest for Nobel Recognition
President Donald J. Trump meets with María Corina Machado of Venezuela in the Oval Office, during which she presented the President with her Nobel Peace Prize in recognition and honor.🕊️ pic.twitter.com/v7pYHjVNVO
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 16, 2026
Trump has wanted a Nobel Peace Prize for years. He recently called it an 'embarrassment' to Norway that he hasn't won one. Several world leaders and American lawmakers have formally nominated him for the 2026 prize.
Former Norwegian ambassador to the US Kare Aas said Trump's recent moves haven't helped his case. 'Annexing Greenland and threatening European countries doesn't at all strengthen President Trump's chances to get the award,' Aas told NBC News.
A senior White House official had reportedly signalled before the meeting that Trump would take the medal if Machado offered it. 'If she wants to gift him something, he's not one to refuse a gift,' the official said.
Maduro was seized in a US military raid on 3 January and flown to America to face narcotics trafficking charges. Rodriguez has stayed on, with the Trump administration calling her 'extremely cooperative' in meeting American demands.
