Trump Welcomes Machado’s Peace Prize Offer As An “Honor,” Only For Hopes To Be Dashed

Donald Trump’s renewed hope of snagging the Nobel Peace Prize has been quashed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

The 79-year-old president spent much of last year campaigning for the prestigious honor, only to see it awarded instead to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

Although Machado publicly dedicated the award to Trump, reports indicated she intended to personally present it to him during a White House meeting scheduled for next week.

“Because this is the prize of the Venezuelan people, certainly we want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News on Monday.

Their upcoming meeting follows Trump’s decision to recognize Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as Venezuela’s acting president after Maduro’s capture.

Trump has also argued that Machado lacks the authority and backing required to lead the nation.

“She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,” Trump said on Saturday. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

However, in an interview at the White House with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday, Trump said that Machado giving away her prize to him would be an honor.

“I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump said.

When Hannity told Trump that Machado had said she wanted to give him her Nobel Peace Prize, the president responded, “I’ve heard that she wants to do that. That would be a great honor.”

He went on to repeat the claim that he has ended eight wars, which has been widely disputed, and said not awarding him the prize had been “a major embarrassment to Norway.”

“When you put out eight wars, in theory you should get one for each war,” Trump added.

While Machado’s offer briefly raised Trump’s hopes of finally getting his hands on the coveted prize, the Norwegian Nobel Institute has moved swiftly to crush them.

“A Nobel Prize can [not be] transferred to others. Once the announcement of the laureate(s) has been made, the decision stands for all time,” a spokesperson told The Daily Beast on Friday.

According to political journalist Rachael Bade, the meeting between Trump and Machado was encouraged by Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is married to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Campos-Duffy has publicly praised Machado since Maduro’s capture, describing his current successor as corrupt and anti-American.

“It’s very troubling that she remains in place, and I’m worried about these decisions,” Campos-Duffy said this week, referring to Rodríguez.

“She is a communist, hardcore anti-American and she’s incredibly corrupt… So this is all [a] very difficult situation that we’re in right now. But I think we would be better off… if we found a way to put the woman who won the election back in office.”

In contrast, she publicly described Machado as a “pro-American” who “respects Donald Trump”, adding that Machado had indicated “she will work with the president on economic issues, on the oil, and on rooting out the corruption.”

Machado had been in hiding since August 2024, when she went underground amid a crackdown on opposition figures after the disputed Venezuelan election.

She was a dominant figure in the Venezuelan opposition after winning the Unitary Platform’s 2023 presidential primary with about 93% of the vote, emerging as the overwhelming favorite to challenge Maduro.

However, Venezuela’s comptroller general disqualified her from holding public office for 15 years in June 2023, a ban later upheld by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice that prevented her from appearing on the 2024 presidential ballot.

She secretly fled Venezuela in December, defying a long-standing travel ban imposed by Maduro’s government, and made it to Oslo, Norway to accept her Nobel Peace Prize in person.