Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has revealed her reasoning for giving the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in October to President Donald Trump, telling Fox News that the president “deserves” it.
In a preview clip from an interview with Rachel Campos-Duffy that will air on Fox & Friends on Friday morning, Machado was asked why she handed over the prize during a visit to the White House on Thursday. Campos-Duffy specifically noted that the Norwegian Nobel Institute had previously clarified that transferring the prize was impossible.
“Because he deserves it,” Machado replied when quizzed about why she went ahead with the gesture.
She added: “It was a very emotional moment. I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela.”
Machado presented Trump with the medal set in a gold frame during their Thursday meeting at the White House. Text accompanying the medal read, “To President Donald J. Trump. In gratitude for your extraordinary leadership in promoting peace through strength, advancing diplomacy, and defending liberty and prosperity.”
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Machado compared giving her prize to Trump to the Marquis de Lafayette sending a gold medal bearing George Washington’s likeness to South American liberator Simón Bolívar in 1825. Machado described the gift as “a sign of the brotherhood between the people of the U.S. and the people of Venezuela in their fight for freedom against tyranny”.
In a post Trump made to Truth Social after their meeting, the president thanked Machado, writing, “It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
Machado’s claim that Trump “deserves” the prize that she was given echoes the president’s own repeated assertions made in the months leading up to the ceremony.
In an August meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said, “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize. It’s too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.” Netanyahu had previously surprised Trump by nominating him for the honor in July.
Trump has maintained that he deserves the prize because of his work “stopping wars” across the globe, including between India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo, and Egypt and Ethiopia. The president spent much of the first year of his second-term attempting to broker peace deals between various countries in what many viewed as an attempt to nab himself the Nobel Prize.
The president even took to cold-calling Norwegian diplomats to discuss the prize. The Nobel Peace Prize is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also previously told the Daily Beast that the president was “more than deserving” of the prize for his first-term achievements.
“Like the historic Abraham Accords in the Middle East, and now in his second term, where he has already prevented a nuclear conflict by negotiating peace between India and Pakistan,” she said last June.
Trump’s thirst for Machado’s prize prompted the Norwegian Nobel Committee to issue a statement reminding the public that Nobel Prize ownership cannot be transferred.
“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time,” the Jan. 9 statement read.
Prior to receiving Machado’s medal, Trump was awarded the FIFA Peace Prize by FIFA President Gianni Infantino at a December ceremony. Trump was the inaugural recipient of the award, which was created by FIFA in an attempt to appease Trump ahead of the 2026 World Cup, set to take place in North America this summer.
Machado first offered Trump her award earlier this month after he declined to install her as leader of Venezuela after the U.S. invaded the country and kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro.
Sources told the Washington Post that Trump had ruled out the possibility of Machado replacing Maduro because she had committed the “ultimate sin” of accepting the prize she was offered, instead of turning it down and recommending it be given to Trump instead.
Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity at the time, Machado confirmed that she had not spoken to Trump since the day the prize was announced, and had not yet had a chance to give him the prize.
“It has not happened yet,” she said, adding, “I would love to be able to personally tell him—certainly [the] Venezuelan people want to give it to him. What he has done in his work, it is a huge step towards a democratic country.”
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