The Nobel Foundation issued a statement on Sunday reaffirming that Nobel Prize Awards cannot be transferred or shared, even symbolically, in response to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado's presentation of her 2025 Peace Prize medal to U.S. President Donald Trump during a White House meeting on January 15, 2026.
Machado earned the award for her decades-long advocacy for democracy in Venezuela, challenging Nicolás Maduro's regime through nonviolent opposition and electoral efforts, amid international isolation of the government. However, Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump, who described it as a "wonderful gesture of mutual respect."
The statement from the Nobel Foundation read, "A Nobel Peace Prize laureate receives two central symbols of the prize: a gold medal and a diploma. In addition, the prize money is awarded separately. Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize. Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else's possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
A laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced. A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked. The decision is final and remains in effect for all time.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee does not see it as its role to engage in day-to-day commentary on Peace Prize laureates or the political processes that they are engaged in. The prize is awarded based on the laureate's contributions at the time that the committee's decision is taken.
The Committee does not comment on laureates' subsequent statements, decisions, or actions. Any ongoing assessments or choices made by laureates must be understood as their own responsibility.
There are no restrictions in the statutes of the Nobel Foundation on what a laureate may do with the medal, the diploma, or the prize money. This means that a laureate is free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items.
A number of Nobel medals are displayed in museums around the world. Several Nobel laureates have also chosen to give away or sell their medals." [sic]
Trump has long coveted the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour that was bestowed on former US President Barack Obama within months of his presidency in 2009.
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