Nobel Institute says Machado’s Peace Prize cannot be ‘transferred’ to Trump

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado will not be able to hand over her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump, despite recent suggestions she has made about doing so, the Norwegian Nobel Institute said.

In a statement, the Nobel Institute clarified that a “Nobel Prize can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time.”

“It is not possible to revoke a Nobel Peace Prize. Neither Alfred Nobel’s will nor the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation mention any such possibility,” according to the Nobel Institute.

The Nobel Institute’s stance follows Trump’s announcement during a sit-down interview that aired Jan. 8 on the Fox News show “Hannity” that Machado would be coming to the United States “next week sometime.” During the interview, host Sean Hannity asked Trump if he plans to meet Machado to accept her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize if she gifted it to him.

“I understand she’s coming in next week sometime and I look forward to saying hello to her and I’ve heard that she wants to do that. That would be a great honor,” Trump responded.

On Jan. 5, Machado, also appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity”, said that presenting her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump would serve as an act of gratitude from the Venezuelan people for removing leader Nicolás Maduro, who the United States captured on Jan. 3.

“Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize?” Hannity asked. “Did that actually happen?”

Machado responded, “Well, it hasn’t happened yet.”

The institute’s committee, “as a matter of principle,” said it “will not comment upon what the Peace Prize Laureates may say and do after they have been awarded the prize.”

“The Committee’s mandate is restricted to evaluate the work and efforts of the nominated candidates up to the moment it is decided who shall be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for a given year,” the statement reads.

Who is María Corina Machado?

Machado, 58, won the Nobel Peace Prize back in October 2025 for “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to the Nobel Institute.

The Venezuelan opposition leader’s fight for democracy dates back to the early 2000s, when she co-founded the volunteer civil association Súmate, which seeks to strengthen the foreign nation’s democracy through various means, including monitoring elections.

Machado’s influence led to her transition into politics, and in 2010, she was elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly. In March 2014, she was removed from her position by the regime, which led to her becoming a leader of the opposition.

In the 2024 presidential election, Machado was appointed the candidate of the opposition, according to the Nobel Institute; however, the regime prevented her from running. She then decided to back another candidate.

When Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize, she was living in hiding due to the threats she was facing, the prestigious institute said. Now that the U.S. has captured Maduro, whom she strongly opposed, it is unclear where Machado is; nonetheless, Trump said he’s awaiting her anticipated visit.

Contributing: James Powel, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Machado cannot give her Peace Prize to Trump, Nobel Institute says