Venezuelan oppn leader Machado presents Nobel medal to Trump at White House

January 16, 2026

Washington: Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump during a closed-door meeting at the White House, framing the gesture as a historic symbol of shared struggles for freedom between the two nations.

“I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters in Washington after the meeting. She said she recounted to Trump an episode from two centuries ago, when French General Marquis de Lafayette gifted Venezuelan independence leader Simón Bolivar a medal bearing the likeness of George Washington.

“Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal, in this case the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom,” Machado told reporters.

The meeting took place over lunch in the Private Dining Room of the White House. It marked the first in-person encounter between Trump and Machado. Before the meeting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president was “looking forward to this meeting” and expected it to be “a good and positive discussion.” She described Machado as “a remarkable and brave voice for many of the people of Venezuela,” adding that Trump was eager to hear her assessment of “the realities on the ground in the country and what is taking place.”

Leavitt also noted that the administration has maintained regular contact with Venezuela’s interim leadership under Delcy Rodríguez, saying US officials have found them “extremely cooperative.”

She cited a $500 million energy deal and the release of political prisoners, including five Americans, as signs of that cooperation. It remains unclear whether Trump formally accepted the Nobel medal. The Norwegian Nobel Institute has previously stated that once awarded, a Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked.