María Corina Machado was seen leaving the White House with a Trump goodie bag after handing over her Nobel Peace Prize to the US president.
Donald Trump has made no secret of his coveting the Nobel Peace Prize and appeared frosty towards Machado when she was awarded it in 2025 for her opposition to the regime of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela.
In an extraordinary moment, Machado gave away her medal to Trump, claiming that it was 'recognition for his unique commitment to our freedom'.
It's not the first time that someone has given away their Nobel Prize medal as an expression of political solidarity.
Advert
Norwegian author Knut Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920, and would later present the medal to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels in 1943 as a gesture of support.
Machado's decision to hand over the prize was opposed by the Nobel Committee, who posted on social media: “A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel peace prize laureate cannot."
They added that the award 'cannot be revoked, shared or transferred'.
Advert
Machado, who idolizes former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, handed her medal over to Trump after he bombed the Venezuelan capital Caracas, and US special forces detained Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of being a 'narco-terrorist'.
The medal was presented in a golden frame, with a caption that read: "To President Donald J. Trump, in gratitude for your extraordinary leadership in promoting peace through strength, advancing diplomacy and defending liberty and prosperity.
"In recognition of President Trump’s principled and decisive action to secure a free Venezuela.”
After presenting Trump with the medal, Machado was spotted leaving the White House carrying a bag in Trump's MAGA red, with the president's signature emblazoned on it in gold.
Advert
While it hasn't been confirmed what was in the goodie bag, previous reports have claimed that these bags are distributed to personal guests of the Trump and his family.
At Trump's 2025 inauguration, for instance, attendees were gifted a handbag featuring a large red leather journal embossed in gold with a sketch of the US Capitol, a red leather coin bearing the Capitol building and a White House Christmas ornament, per Page Six.
The outlet also reported that guests were gifted a commemorative glass bottle of Diet Coke, labelled, ‘The Inauguration of the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, January 20, 2025’.
Advert
Machado's decision was criticized by Norway's foreign policy spokesperson, Kirsti Bergstø, who is the leader of Norway’s Socialist Left party, said: “This is, above all, absurd. The peace prize cannot be given away."
She added: “Trump will no doubt claim that he has now received it, but it cannot be transferred, and Trump’s repeated threats toward Greenland clearly demonstrate why it would have been madness to award him the prize."
Machado's gifting of her medal to Trump comes not long after he did not endorse her to become the president of Venezuela after the US detained Maduro.
Speaking earlier in January, Trump said becoming president would be 'very tough' for Machado, because she 'doesn't have the support or the respect within the country'.
Topics: News, US News, World News, Donald Trump
Kit Roberts