Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, has met with U.S. President Donald Trump and revealed that she has already presented him with the Nobel Peace Prize medal.
Foreign news agencies reported that on Thursday, 15 Jan 2026 GMT+7, Maria Corina Machado told reporters she gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during a private meeting at the White House, though she did not specify whether Trump accepted the award.
After leaving the White House, Machado addressed a group of supporters gathered outside the entrance in Spanish. The Associated Press reported she said, “We can trust President Trump.”
Later, Machado told reporters in English, “I have given the Nobel Peace Prize medal to the President of the United States,” calling it “a recognition of his outstanding commitment to our freedom.”
In the weeks after U.S. forces detained President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Trump refused to recognize Machado as the new leader despite previously praising her as a “freedom fighter” after her movement claimed victory in the widely disputed 2024 election.
Instead, Trump chose to negotiate with Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president who currently serves as acting president, stating that Machado still lacks sufficient domestic support.
Trump has frequently expressed his desire to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and reportedly showed displeasure when the award was given to Machado, who accepted the honor last year.
Last week, Machado said she intended to share the prize with Trump, but the Nobel Committee later clarified that the award cannot be transferred between individuals.
When asked about Machado’s remarks, the Committee advised the BBC to refer to their previous statements. The Nobel Peace Center posted on the platform X before a meeting, saying, “The medal can change owners, but the status of Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.”
During her statement, Machado described a historical event in which Marquis de Lafayette, a fighter in the American Revolutionary War, presented a medal bearing George Washington’s image to Simón Bolívar, one of the founding fathers of modern Venezuela.
Machado said that gift symbolized “fraternity” between her country and the United States “in the fight for freedom from dictatorship.”
“And over 200 years of history, Bolívar’s people are returning the medal to Washington’s heir, which in this case is the Nobel Peace Prize medal, as a recognition of his outstanding commitment to our freedom.”
It is expected that during her meeting with Trump, Machado will try to persuade him that supporting Rodriguez’s acting government is a mistake and that her opposition alliance should instead oversee the transition.
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Source:bbc