After Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, gave the prestigious medal to President Donald Trump last week.
By Catholics for Catholics
No, the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred from one person to another, according to the Nobel Foundation.
The Nobel Foundation said Sunday that the fact that Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, gave her Nobel Prize to President Donald Trump on Jan. 15 during a White House meeting, does not make it legitimate, according to a story by NTD News. The Foundation spoke on the matter on Sunday, asserting that the prize can’t be passed on.
“One of the core missions of the Nobel Foundation is to safeguard the dignity of the Nobel Prizes and their administration. The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel’s will and its stipulations,” it said in a statement, referring to the Swedish chemist and inventor of dynamite who started the foundation in the late 19th century.
The Foundation said that the will of Nobel had said that the prizes should be given to people who “have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind,” the statement said, adding that his will also “specifies who has the right to award each respective prize.”
“A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed,” the foundation said.
The controversy over the Nobel Prize has been ongoing since last year, after the prize was awarded to Machado. She said she would turn it over to Trump.
🚨 WOW! Despite being told the Nobel Peace Prize could NOT be transferred, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave it to President Trump on behalf of the Venezuelan people. 🇺🇸🇻🇪
— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) January 16, 2026
“Because HE DESERVES it! It was a very emotional moment. I decided to present the… pic.twitter.com/9HxRaqZFH7
Machado also supported the U.S. military operation that led to the incarceration of Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month. Still, Trump said that he would not support placing Machado as the President of Venezuela and instead suggested that Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, be in charge of the nation.
Trump wrote in a Jan. 15 social media post that “Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thanks!”
Last week, Machado said the present was in acknowledgment of what she called Trump’s dedication to the freedom of the Venezuelan people. The White House later posted a photo of Trump and Machado with the president holding up a large, gold-colored frame displaying the medal.
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