Former US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to accept Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize medal, saying she voluntarily offered it to him in recognition of his role in ending multiple global conflicts. Trump said Machado told him that he had “ended eight wars” and that “nobody deserves this prize more” than he does.

Speaking to reporters after receiving the medal on Thursday, Trump described the gesture as respectful and flattering. When questioned about why he would accept someone else’s Nobel Prize and what he planned to do with it, Trump said Machado had personally insisted on giving it to him. He praised her as a “wonderful woman” and called the act a “wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”

Machado, a prominent figure in Venezuela’s opposition movement, earlier said she presented the Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump as a recognition of what she described as his “unique commitment” to Venezuela’s freedom. The symbolic handover followed a closed-door meeting between the two leaders at the White House, where they reportedly discussed the political situation and leadership challenges in Venezuela.

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After the meeting, Machado told supporters gathered outside the White House that they could “count on President Trump”, without providing further details. Her remarks were met with chants of appreciation from some attendees, underscoring the political significance of the encounter amid Venezuela’s ongoing crisis.

The episode has triggered debate and criticism internationally, prompting the Norwegian Nobel Committee to reiterate long-standing rules governing the Nobel Peace Prize. In a statement issued on Friday, the committee clarified that the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked, regardless of who possesses the physical medal.

The committee stressed that while laureates are free to keep, give away, sell, or donate their medal, diploma, or prize money, the identity of the Nobel Peace Prize recipient remains unchanged in historical records. It also declined to comment further on the political controversy surrounding Machado’s gesture, stating it would not engage in discussions about the medal’s presentation to another individual.

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