Overview
- Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gave her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during a Jan. 15 White House meeting and called it a symbolic thank-you for his actions on Venezuela.
- Trump publicly praised the gift as “wonderful,” and the White House released a photo showing him holding the framed medal with an inscription lauding his role in seeking a free Venezuela.
- The Norwegian Nobel Committee reiterated that a Nobel cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred, clarifying that only the physical medal can change hands and the laureate title remains with Machado.
- Trump has not endorsed Machado to lead Venezuela, noting he does not see her as the country’s leader, and his team signaled no policy change after the meeting while engaging separately with interim leader Delcy Rodríguez.
- After the White House visit, Machado’s planned press event at the U.S. Capitol dissolved into a disorderly rally requiring a police escort, as the U.S. continues to manage seized Venezuelan assets including a reported $500 million oil sale routed to Treasury-controlled accounts.