Does Machado handing her medal make Trump the 2025 Nobel Peace laureate?
Nobel Committee says while the medal and diploma can be donated or sold, the decision on the winner cannot be revoked
A day after 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado handed over her Nobel Peace medal to US President Donald Trump, the Nobel Committee reiterated that the award cannot be transferred.
Nobel Committee statement
In a statement released by the Committee, it said the medal can be given away but the Nobel Prize is inseparable from the winner.
Also read: Trump ‘deserved it’: Maria Machado on sharing Nobel Peace Prize
"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," the award body said in a statement.
Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else’s possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the statement added.
The Nobel Institute said even if the gesture of handing over her prize to the US President is purely symbolic, the medal and the diploma are physical symbols confirming that an individual or organisation has been awarded the prize.
Also read: Will Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado emerge as face of post-Maduro Venezuela?
The statement said though there are no restrictions on what a laureate may do with the statues, prize money, diploma or the medal and are free to donate these items, a Nobel Peace Prize can never be revoked and the decision is final and applies for all time.
Trump receives the medal
While the Committee’s statement did not mention any name, the statement comes day after White House a photo with Trump seen smiling big holding the medal presented by Machado on Friday (January 16). The White House official said the Trump would be to keep it.
Venezuela’s opposition leader Machado had won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 for working towards promoting democratic rights of the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a peaceful transition from the long-standing leader Nicolas Maduro to democracy.
Also read: Maria Corina Machado wins 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, Trump's hopes dashes
Notably, Machado announced that she would like to share her Peace Prize with President Donald Trump after US captured Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on drug charges.
Not the first time
This is not the first time a laureate has decided to sell or give away their medals. Kofi Annan’s widow donated the medal and diploma to the UN Office in Geneva, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov sold his medal and donated it to UNICEF’s fund for Ukrainian refugee children, David Thouless’ family donated the medal to Trinity Hall at University of Cambridge, and James Watson’s medal was sold for funding research, among others.