Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado drew global attention after presenting her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during a White House meeting, prompting debate over whether a Nobel Prize can be given away.
Why Machado gave the medal to Trump
Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize in October for her pro-democracy efforts, with the Nobel Committee praising her for keeping “the flame of democracy burning” in Venezuela. She dedicated the honor to the Venezuelan people and to Trump, citing his support for her cause.
In recent weeks, however, Machado has appeared sidelined by the Trump administration following U.S. efforts to pressure Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. In interviews, Machado said she wanted to “share” the prize with Trump, a move widely seen as an attempt to regain U.S. backing.
Trump, who has openly expressed interest in winning a Nobel Peace Prize, accepted the medal and called the gesture one of “mutual respect.”
What the Nobel Committee says
The Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute have been clear that Nobel Prizes cannot be transferred. Once announced, a prize “cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others,” the committee said, emphasizing that while a medal can change hands, the title of Nobel laureate remains with the original recipient.
Can a Nobel Prize be sold or given away?
While the honor itself cannot be transferred, Nobel medals can legally be sold or gifted as physical objects. Several laureates or their estates have auctioned medals over the years, often for charitable causes.
Notable examples include the sale of medals belonging to John F. Nash Jr., Francis Crick and James Watson. In 2022, journalist Dmitry Muratov sold his Nobel Peace Prize medal for more than $100 million, donating the proceeds to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
Can a Nobel Prize be refused or revoked?
Recipients may refuse a Nobel Prize, as Jean-Paul Sartre did in 1964 and Le Duc Tho did in 1973, but the award itself remains valid. Nobel Prizes cannot be revoked or reconsidered once granted, according to the Nobel Foundation’s statutes.
Past laureates have also symbolically distanced themselves from their prizes. Ernest Hemingway once said his Nobel Prize “belonged to Cuba” and reportedly placed his medal at a religious shrine there.
Bottom line
Machado’s gesture may carry symbolic and political weight, but under Nobel rules, she remains the sole Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Trump may possess the medal, but the honor itself cannot be gifted.
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