Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is pictured arriving for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, shown attending a separate event later in the day, in this combination of images taken at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 15, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
When U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and transported him to a federal detention center in New York City, leftist Vice President Delcy Rodríguez (an ally of Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez) was sworn in as Venezuela's acting president — not opposition leader María Corina Machado. And U.S. President Donald Trump said Machado didn't have enough support for the position.
But Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado still has hopes of becoming president of Venezuela. And on Thursday, January 15, she gave Trump her award in what her supporters see as a gesture of good will.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, however, is saying that giving Trump her award is a blatant violation of Nobel rules. According to an official statement, "A Nobel Prize can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time."
Bloomberg News reporters Ott Ummelas and Heidi Taksdal Skjeseth, in an article published on January 16, explain, "Norway reacted with disbelief to the news that Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado gave her award medal to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long coveted the award…. Trump, who claims to deserve the peace prize for having resolved numerous wars during his second term, accepted the medal from the Venezuelan opposition leader at a White House meeting on Thursday. He has earlier expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision by the Norwegian Nobel Committee."
University of Oslo professor Janne Haaland Matlary is vehemently critical of Machado's act, describing it as "pathetic" and "meaningless."
Matlary told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (abbreviated NRK in Norwegian), "That's completely unheard of. It's a total lack of respect for the award, on her part."
Former Oslo Mayor Raymond Johansen had an equally blistering response.
On Facebook, Johansen posted, "This is unbelievably embarrassing and damaging to one of the world's most recognized and important prizes. The awarding of the prize is now so politicized and potentially dangerous that it could easily legitimize an anti-peace prize development."
Read the full Bloomberg News article at this link (subscription required).