Venezuela’s opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, announced outside the US Capitol today that she has given her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House. Speculation had swirled beforehand about whether Machado would present the medal to the former president.
She ultimately confirmed she did so “in recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom”, Sky News reported. It remains uncertain if Trump has formally accepted the medal.
Following their meeting, Machado told reporters she had presented Trump with the 18-karat gold medal in gratitude for the US military operation that deposed Nicolás Maduro on January 3.
Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, an honour Trump had openly sought, for her tireless campaign against the repressive regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
Prior to the meeting, the Norwegian Nobel Institute issued a statement clarifying that, according to the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation, a prize “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others” and that the decision remains “final and stands for all time”.
Machado had previously dedicated the award to Trump for his “decisive support” of the Venezuelan cause. Analysts viewed the gesture as an attempt to win over a president who has long coveted the award and who had recently shown preference for interim leader Delcy Rodríguez over Machado.
Trump has received several nominations for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize from the governments of Israel, Pakistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, citing his roles in various regional ceasefires. When Machado was first announced as the winner in 2025, White House officials criticised the committee, calling the decision “politics over peace” for bypassing Trump.
During a Fox News interview prior to their meeting, Trump called Machado’s offer to share the prize “a great honour”. This comes after Trump’s special operations forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a sweeping military raid on Caracas on January 3.
Members of the US Army’s elite Delta Force, supported by the CIA and the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, stormed Maduro’s fortified compound at Fort Tiuna. Both he and Flores were taken into custody and flown out of Venezuela by helicopter within two hours of the operation’s commencement.
Venezuelan officials report that at least 100 people were killed in strikes, including 23 Venezuelan security officers and 32 Cuban military personnel. The US military sustained no fatalities, though seven American service members were injured.
Maduro and Flores were transported to New York City, where they are currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn. Both have been indicted on federal charges of narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, and possession of machine guns.
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