Nobel Peace Prize remains tied to winner after Machado gives medal to Trump, committee says

The Nobel Peace Prize remains permanently linked to the person officially awarded it, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday, after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented her 2025 Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump during a White House meeting.

Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting democracy and peaceful transition in Venezuela, said she gave the medal to Trump as a symbolic gesture of gratitude for his “commitment to the freedom of the Venezuelan people.” Trump acknowledged the gesture on social media, calling it “a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”

In response, the Nobel Committee in Oslo clarified that while laureates are free to give away or donate the physical medal, diploma or prize money, the honour of the Nobel Peace Prize itself cannot be transferred, shared or revoked — and remains tied only to the original laureate recorded in history.

The committee noted there are no restrictions on what winners may do with the medal, diploma or prize money, and such items can change hands after the award has been made.

Machado’s gesture follows her dramatic escape from Venezuela and comes amid ongoing political developments in her home country. Trump has long expressed interest in receiving a Nobel Peace Prize but officially remains not a Nobel laureate, even if he keeps the medal Machado presented.

The Nobel Committee declined to comment on laureates’ personal decisions after the award, emphasising that only the official recipient is recognised in Nobel records.