Maria Corina Machado says she presented Trump with her Nobel peace prize medal

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Thu 15 Jan 2026 16.54 EST
First published on Thu 15 Jan 2026 16.37 EST


The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has said she “presented” her gold Nobel peace prize medal to Donald Trump after meeting him in the White House, nearly a fortnight after he ordered the abduction of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Machado, who received the award last year for her struggle against Maduro’s “brutal, authoritarian state”, told reporters she had done so “in recognition [of] his unique commitment [to] our freedom”. It was not immediately clear whether Trump had accepted the gift.

Earlier in the day the Nobel organizers posted on X: “A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel peace prize laureate cannot.” Machado, whose movement is widely believed to have beaten Maduro in Venezuela’s 2024 election, was unexpectedly sidelined by Trump after US special forces troops captured her political rival in the early hours of 3 January.

Opposition supporters hoped Trump would recognise the 58-year-old conservative politician as Venezuela’s new leader after Maduro’s downfall but instead he gave the nod to the dictator’s second-in-command, the vice-president Delcy Rodríguez, who was subsequently sworn in as acting president.

On Thursday, in an apparent attempt to win back Trump’s favour, Machado told reporters she had “presented” her Norwegian medal to the US president during a private meeting. Earlier this week, the organisers of the Nobel peace prize announced the award could not be “shared or transferred” after Machado told Fox News she wished to “share” it with Trump. “The decision is final and stands for all time,” they said.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/15/maria-corina-machado-says-she-presented-trump-with-her-nobel-peace-prize-medal

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Article updated.

Original article -

Thu 15 Jan 2026 16.37 EST
Last modified on Thu 15 Jan 2026 16.41 EST


The Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, has said she presented Donald Trump with her Nobel peace prize medal during their meeting on Thursday.

She did not answer reporters’ questions as to whether he accepted it.


More details soon …

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

1. Ass kissing the toddler

[Grokenstein]

2. We will always remember that he didn't earn it.

Just like that Purple Heart. He just wants to smear his filth on everything.

[popsdenver]

59. It is a far cry

from winning THE NOBEL Peace prize, and winning a NOBEL Peace Prize MEDAL.

Hell, a friend of mine was a recipient lately of a Nobel Peace Prize Medal for his work in Syria when Assad dropped poison chemical bombs on his own people who were rebelling against him. (BTW: Putin supplied him with the Chemical bombs)
My friend documented for the U.N. AND the HAGUE, that in fact he did drop them, and had many more, and that they were supplied by Putin/Russia.
I think that would make Assad and Putin, BOTH guilty of International War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity.........
And Both in violation of the Geneva Convention.......

[hlthe2b]

3. DISGRACEFUL.

He is incapable of feeling shame, apparently, but once he croaks (hopefully soon), I hope this is brought up and used to humiliate all his children, grandchildren, and anyone who supported him for time immortal. Obviously it is but one thing that is beyond disgusting, but really symbolic of the rest.

[Ocelot II]

4. He'll now proudly display it in the Evil Office as if it had actually been awarded to him,

despite the NPP Committee having emphasized that the award can't be transferred to any other person or revoked. And that unfortunate act of fealty on Machado's part won't help her or her movement a bit. And he'll probably have a fake of the award certificate printed up with his name on it.

[kerouac2]

5. Pathetic

So pathetic.

Like dictators putting a bunch of bs medals on their chest.

[viva la]

6. It is amazing how much these lackeys can abase themselves

He's dumped her for Maduro's own lackey.

[PJMcK]

7. Ms. Machado is pathetic

It’s unfathomable what she hopes to gain but her pointless act of sycophantic obsequiousness belittles her self, her accomplishments as well as diminishing the value of her award. Truly a pointless and stupid act undeserving of any respect.

I hope she kept the $1.1 million although I’m sure Trump would want that, too.

By the way, of course he accepted her medal just as he accepted the Purple Heart.

[TomSlick]

17. Machado knows that Trump is susceptible to ass kissing and that the future of her country is at stake.

She played the only card she had for the good of her country.

[Ocelot II]

23. Unfortunately it probably won't work. Trump's transactions are one-way streets - his way.

It was kind of a hail-Mary pass she probably hopes will get Trump's support in installing her in Venezuela's government apparatus, but it will fail. Trump has better control over the existing regime, minus Maduro. But she didn't give away the Peace Prize itself, because she can't. Per Nobel's rules it isn't transferrable. She can give away the medallion and the prize money but she's stuck with the prize itself.

[Marcuse]

34. Her problem is that Trump won't stay bribed. If there is a higher bidder

[lapfog_1]

29. this act alone should disqualify her from being installed as the new right wing dictator

That she WANTS to be President of Venezuela sooo bad that she gives Trump a hunk of metal ( it isn't the Peace Prize, as the Nobel committee has stated at least TWICE ) so that she would be installed as the new leader is just fucking nuts.

If they ever have free and fair elections, monitored by international judges, and she runs and wins... then she can lead the country.

But it should be up to the Venezuelan people, not Trump.

[calimary]

39. THIS!!!!!

[Deminpenn]

48. Yep

Everyone knows the way to Trump's heart is to give him something. Usually it's money, but in this case a medal.

[Escurumbele]

61. Yes, but she also needs to know who she is dealing with. Like someone already ponted out, they guy is

going to hang the medal in the oval office to show it to everyone who comes in, but Machado will remain under the bus.

I do believe it would have shown more character on her part to not give him the medal, and to deal with him knowing who he is.

[Escurumbele]

60. She is not pathetic, she is desperate, but nonetheless wrong, she should had never given the medal to the guy.

Of course, suffice to say that the buffoon has no shame, shows it everyday, and underlines the fact by accepting something that does not belong to him.

Machado had to prove, by not giving him the medal, that she knows who she is dealing with, he already threw her under the bus because he is not willing and doesn't know how to deal with honest people, reason why he is aligning himself with the regime.

It is a real shame she did that, but she is not pathetic.

[PJMcK]

63. She had nothing to gain from gifting Trump the medal

My view is she debased herself in front of Trump and will receive nothing in return. I consider her act pathetic.

You're entitled to your own opinion.

[PJMcK]

69. Sorry to belabor the point

Here’s a prominent Norwegian’s view.

“It’s completely unheard of,” Janne Haaland Matlary, a professor of international politics at the University of Oslo and former state secretary in the foreign affairs ministry, told public broadcaster NRK on Friday.

She called Machado’s gesture “disrespectful” and “pathetic,” saying it undermined the value of the prize, which the Norwegian Nobel Committee awards annually.

See this post
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220943945

[chelsea0011]

8. Is her next stop Minneapolis ?

Bring your papers.

[tanyev]

9. "reporter's questions as to whether he accepted it"

Are you f**king kidding me? OF COURSE he accepted it!

Effing useless media morons.

[Javaman]

10. boot licker.

hope you are happy Nobel society, you just fucked yourselves. you're medal is worthless now.

[littlemissmartypants]

15. It certainly must be worthless to her. What an unprincipled person she must be to fold to a psychopath. ...

The pure stupidity and hubris such action broadcasts, the apparent belief that a psychopath wouldn't fuck you over any less than everyone else.

Neither of them are presidential material and the Nobel Committee has lost credibility thanks to the whole charade. The prize is forever tainted.

[littlemissmartypants]

50. Deminpenn, Trump is a psychopath. She's not going to get ...

Jack Sh¡t from a psychopath and especially not from him now that he's got what he wants. If anything, she just set herself up as as target.

My take is as perfectly legit as yours. No need to gaslight via trivializing. We just disagree. Tremendously.

If anyone reading this doesn't know how to identify a psychopath here's a great place to start:

Characteristics of Psychopaths

1. Aggressive, callous, and cunning
2. Complete absence of conscience and empathy
3. Very adept at manipulating others
4. Willingness to engage in immoral, criminal conduct
5. Willingness to take what they want and do as they please, regardless of who is hurt or wronged
6. Deceptive ability to appear outwardly benevolent
7. Deceptive ability to behave in superficially charming ways to hide purely selfish motives
8. Willingness to use intimidation and violence to control others in order to satisfy their own needs
9. Willingness to intentionally violate the basic inherent human rights of others
10. Complete absence of any sense of guilt or remorse for the harm their actions have caused to others
11. Rationalization of their own immoral behavior
12. Will attempt to lay blame upon someone else for their own conduct
13. Denial, will deny their own wrongdoing outright
14. Utter contemptuousness toward the feelings and desires of their fellow beings
15. Pathological lying, will say anything without any concern for truth to advance their own hidden agendas
16. Ablity to feign [fake] normal human emotions and empathy
17. Distorted sense of the consequences of their actions
18. Total failure to accept any responsibility for their own socially irresponsible ways
19. Strong bellef that they will never be brought to justice for their criminal behavior

Also, here's a helpful chart for identifying gaslighting.

[Hey Joe]

11. Unfuckingbelievable

Leave it to Tr💩mp to accept an honor achieved by the sacrifice and hard work of another when he embodies none of the qualities that honor represents.
And then brag about it!
🤯🫣

[Clouds Passing]

12. Stupid ignorant person. She did not deserve the Peace Prize. What was the Nobel committee thinking?

Last edited Fri Jan 16, 2026, 09:47 AM - Edit history (1)

[Ocelot II]

24. What does the fact that she's *female* have to do with it?

[BidenRocks]

37. I think they forgot the

emoji.

[Clouds Passing]

64. Oops. Edited to reflect neutral wording.

[ananda]

45. I've been wondering that myseld.

There were so many other much better candidates.

[Srkdqltr]

13. These people are idiots. Absolutely idiots.

[bluestarone]

14. 79 year old worthless fuck taking an award that means NOTHING!

I cannot, just cannot understand any reason he would take a worthless award. ( to him that is) I also gotta wonder WHY she would give away this award? Evidently it ment NOTHING to her.

[Ocelot II]

25. She knew how desperately he wanted it and how much he resented her for getting it instead of him.

And she certainly knows that giving him the medallion doesn't mean she gave him the prize itself, because per the Nobel Committee it's not transferrable. She probably thought offering him the medallion would give him enough of a stiffy that he'd be more helpful to her in dealing with what remains of the Madura regime.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. He'll wear it to Davos. NT

[C Moon]

18. Hey dumbeff: you weren't a Nobel Prize winner.

What’s next? A Super Bowl ring?
(sorry. That wasn’t meant to reply to your comment)

[Marie Marie]

44. With the handing over of that medal - Trump's "reality" changed forever.

He has the medal - he thinks he earned it and deserved it so - "He is a Nobel Prize Winner". He will repeat it over and over and He and the Rubes will make that a historical fact. God Damn his enablers and screw her for sucking up with the very last thing he deserved.

[travelingthrulife]

19. Ridiculous. They should not have given her the award.

[csusan]

20. Doesn't matter

In the darkest, darkest part of his being he knows he didn't win it. All of the US and the rest of the world knows he didnt win it

I just can't get upset about this when there is so much going on to get upset about.

I keep remembering that Obama truly won it. Giving it to Trump doesn't change that and it never will. And Trump knows it.

[twodogsbarking]

21. If I find a Super Bowl ring that doesn't make me a champion.

[Ocelot II]

27. If Tom Brady *gave* you his Super Bowl ring, you still wouldn't be a Super Bowl champion.

[twodogsbarking]

36. Either way I will never be a super bowl champion.

[delisen]

22. Machado is uber right, is she not?

Does she approve of Trump keeping the regime in place or is everything Venezuela just theater now?

Well, we know too well what weirdness ensues when a people lose control of their government.

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

26. She is.

She's said to be associated with right-wing death squads in Venezuela, though I have no definite proof thereof. Hugo Chavez rode a wave of resentment against people like her.

[Initech]

28. I'd like to tell him where he can shove that peace prize!

[Bristlecone]

30. He is naked in front of a mirror and jerking off with it around his neck as I type

I am sure.

I am not sorry to put that image in your heads. Sorry.

He is more disgusting than that visualization and needs to be thought of in the lowest, most shallow form possible.

[JPPaverage]

31. Well that cheapens the award

Just like everything else trump is associated with. Cheap bullshit, honors given but not earned. I'd say the Nobel committee should be more careful about whom they award it to next year.
Maybe Sheldon Cooper.

[cos dem]

32. Gotta blame the Nobel committee on this one

She didn't seem like she was really worth it in the beginning. Is this really the best they could do?
By her giving it to someone who clearly doesn't deserve it, she insults herself, debases the award, and makes the Nobel committee look like idiots.

[purr-rat beauty]

33. Oooh more shiny bullshit!

Participation trophies at a booger flicking contest more genuinely earned

[mcar]

35. ...

[calimary]

38. O. M. G. She gave him her medal????????? Her NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?????

So he could “share” it??????

And how will that work??? Does he have permanent custody of it now, even though it’s supposedly “shared”???? I think we all know he won’t give it back.

O. M. G.

Seems to me that’s cause for revoking that prize and awarding it to somebody else.

[SunSeeker]

40. Grotesque

[Skittles]

41. neither one of them should have it

they are both disgusting

[denvine]

42. Pathetic! She obviously never deserved it!

[bmichaelh]

43. Erich Fromm

Erich Fromm, the German-American psychoanalyst, wrote a book called To Have or To Be?

Fromm contrasts having and being.

Trump has sought his life in having.

Having a Nobel Peace Prize that Trump was not awarded does not mean he is a peacemaker.

Fromm, also wrote a book called The Heart of Man. In it he described malignant narcissism.
He may have been the one to originate the term.

As Wikipedia says:

Individual takes pride in their own inherent traits rather than their achievements, and thus does not require a connection to other people or to reality.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

46. Same way he got his Purple Heart

The slob never had to work for anything.

[VanceFan]

47. Meaningless

Trump is pathetic for accepting it, and she clearly should never have received one if she thinks Trump is worthy of one. In this case, it's as meaningless as the FIFA Peace medal.

[tblue37]

51. He once accepted a vet's Purple Heart medal. He is shameless.

[Bristlecone]

52. It wouldn't surprise me if he invaded Venezuela solely on her promise to give it to him.

In return. He’s that f’ed in the head.

[tirebiter]

53. So nobody has it. She was made aware of the rules.

?si=v2FFONFVZMHno91F

[orangecrush]

54. ...

[bluestarone]

66. I raise you one.

[niyad]

55. The Nobel Committee really screwed up this year. What on earth were

they thinking even awarding it to her in the first place. There are actual living, breathing, commited peace activists everywhere. But then, they awarded warmknger henry k with one. . The award will probably be seen as completely irrelevant from now on.

[Crowman2009]

56. It's was a mistake giving the award to Pinoche in a dress.

[Figarosmom]

57. Now he's going to show everyone

"his" Peace Prize. Any visitors wherever he hangs it will get an earful of how he's stopped so many wars and got the Nobel Peace Prize for it.

He's delusional and insane.

Time for another cognitive test.

[Botany]

58. NobelCommittee Prior to this nonsense:

The medal can change hands but the title can not.

[Kid Berwyn]

62. A Hollow Exercise

… to satisfy the deranged cravings of a hollow man.

[tonekat]

65. This is equivalent to an Anthropologist

Putting a colorful tin can on a cord around a primitive's neck, so he can boast to the others about his "prize".

[LetMyPeopleVote]

67. MaddowBlog-Trump received a Nobel Peace Prize the same way he received a Purple Heart

The president seems to prefer a model where others do the heavily lifting and then generously turn over their honors.

Trump received a Nobel Peace Prize the same way he received a Purple Heart:

He wants the honors without the sacrifice. He prefers a model in which others do the work and then generously turn over their awards to him, because, as he put it, it’s “much easier.” www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-01-16T16:59:30.116Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-received-a-nobel-peace-prize-the-same-way-he-received-a-purple-heart

That reminded me of a story from almost a decade ago. Politico published this report in August 2016:

Without setting foot on a battlefield, Donald Trump said he received a Purple Heart medal on Tuesday at his rally in Ashburn, Virginia, from a retired lieutenant colonel and supporter.

‘I said to him, “Is that like the real one, or is that a copy?”’ the Republican nominee said moments after taking the stage at a local high school. Trump recounted the exchange, remarking that the man, who he identified as retired Lt. Col. Louis Dorfman said, ‘That’s my real Purple Heart. I have such confidence in you.’

“I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” the then-candidate declared. “This was much easier.”

Purple Hearts are awarded to service members or their families after they’re wounded or killed in the course of their military service. Due to alleged “bone spurs” in his feet, Trump avoided military service, but by his own admission, he “always wanted to get the Purple Heart” anyway.

Having someone who actually served in the military hand him the honor was “much easier” for Trump than actually wearing the uniform and putting his life on the line.

With Machado, the story is similar: Trump wants the accolades without the sacrifice. He apparently prefers a model in which others do the heavily lifting and then generously turn over their honors to him, without him having to do anything to merit the award he covets.

But while the president will likely celebrate the Nobel Peace Prize that ended up in his possession, he’ll know — we all know — that there’s a dramatic difference between a gift and earned honors.

[Scalded Nun]

68. 'My Precious' to be displayed on the wall in a gold frame for all to see and hear about