Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Thursday that she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump during a private meeting at the White House. She told reporters that she made the gesture after meeting Trump behind closed doors.

Soon after her statement, the organisers of the Nobel Peace Prize issued a clarification. They said that while the physical medal can be passed on, the title of a Nobel Peace Prize winner cannot be changed.

The organisers wrote on X, “Once a Nobel Peace Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.”

They added, “A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.”

Medal Can Change Hands, Title Cannot

In the same message, the Nobel committee explained that Nobel medals have changed hands in the past. However, such actions never changed who officially won the prize.

They pointed to earlier examples. One involved journalist Dmitry Muratov, who auctioned his Nobel Peace Prize medal to raise funds for refugees from the war in Ukraine. The committee also noted that the medal displayed at the Nobel Peace Centre originally belonged to Christian Lous Lange, Norway’s first Nobel Peace Prize winner, and is only on loan.

Trump Responds After Meeting

After the meeting, Trump thanked Machado in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. He wrote, “It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you, María!”

Machado later told reporters that she made the gesture “in recognition [of] his unique commitment [to] our freedom.” It remains unclear whether Trump formally accepted the medal.

Political Context Behind The Gesture

The meeting took place nearly two weeks after US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following strikes on Caracas. Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her fight against what was described as Maduro’s “brutal, authoritarian state.”

After Maduro’s removal, many opposition supporters expected Trump to recognise Machado as Venezuela’s new leader. Instead, Trump supported Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, who was later sworn in as acting president. As a result, several observers see Machado’s gesture as an effort to win Trump’s political backing.