Overview
- Posting an official statement on January 18, the Nobel Foundation said a prize cannot, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed and cited its duty to uphold Alfred Nobel’s will.
- Machado met President Donald Trump at the White House on January 15 and presented her framed Peace Prize medal, with the White House sharing a photo and officials saying he intends to keep it.
- The Norwegian Nobel Committee had already emphasized that the prize and the laureate are inseparable, that decisions are final, and that it does not comment on laureates’ subsequent political actions.
- The Nobel statutes place no limits on a laureate’s handling of the medal, diploma, or prize money, and past laureates have sold or donated medals, including Dmitry Muratov and Kofi Annan’s estate.
- The presentation unfolded during a tense U.S.–Venezuela phase that included the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro and support for interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, factors that shaped the gesture’s political context.