Machado Offered Trump Her Nobel, but Prize Institute Says It’s Not Allowed

After María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader, offered her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump, the Norwegian Nobel Institute said it cannot be “transferred to others.”María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader, offered to give her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump, who has long coveted the award.Credit...Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York TimesJan. 10, 2026, 11:14 a.m. ETSharing might be caring, but not, apparently, when it comes to the Nobel Peace Prize.On Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Institute clarified the rules governing the award, writing that the facts were “clear and well established.”“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others,” the institute wrote. “The decision is final and stands for all time.”The statement was released after María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader and the winner of last year’s prize, offered this week to give her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump, who has long coveted the award.On Monday, Ms. Machado, speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News, said that presenting the prize to Mr. Trump would be an act of gratitude from the Venezuelan people for the removal of Nicolás Maduro, the country’s president who was captured last week by the United States.“Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize?” Mr. Hannity said in the interview, speaking of Mr. Trump. “Did that actually happen?”“Well, it hasn’t happened yet,” Mr. Machado said. “But I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe the Venezuelan people — because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to, to give it to him and share it with him.”Mr. Trump indicated on Thursday that he would meet with Ms. Machado next week in Washington. The news came after Mr. Trump said that he would not support her to lead the country after the U.S. seizure of Mr. Maduro.Ms. Machado led a successful election campaign in 2024 against Mr. Maduro, but did not appear on the ballot because she had been barred by Venezuela’s highest court from participating. She had the greatest popular legitimacy to lead the nation, but Mr. Trump has said she doesn’t have the necessary support or respect within Venezuela to govern it.In an interview on Fox News on Thursday, Mr. Trump said that “it would be a great honor” to accept the award from Ms. Machado, adding that it was “a major embarrassment to Norway” that he did not win the prize.Mr. Trump has claimed credit for ending several wars since taking office in January. In some cases, warring parties have credited him with advancing peace or calming hostilities. In others, his role is disputed or less clear, or fighting has resumed.The Norwegian Nobel Institute, in its statement, also linked to a page on its website that said that the Nobel Peace Prize, once awarded, could not be revoked.According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, it wrote, “no appeals may be made against the decision of a prize-awarding body with regard to the award of a prize.”The organization noted that the committees that award the Nobel Prizes have never considered revoking a prize. As a matter of principle, it said, it does not comment on what Peace Prize winners say or do after they win the award.Jonathan Wolfe is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news.SKIP