US President Donald Trump faced pointed questions from reporters after Venezuelan Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave him her Nobel Peace Prize medal, triggering widespread reactions and online criticism.
‘She offered it to me’, says Trump
Responding to a reporter who asked why he would want someone else’s Nobel Prize, Trump said the gesture came directly from Machado. “Well, she offered it to me. I thought it was very nice,” he said. According to Trump, Machado told him that after “you’ve had eight wars and nobody deserves this prize more than in history than you do.”
Trump described the offer as a “very nice gesture” and spoke at length about his impression of Machado. “I think she’s a very fine woman and we’ll be talking again,” he said, adding that he had met her for the first time recently and was “very, very impressed.”
Question on US Alignment and Venezuela
Reportedly, following Trump’s comments praising Machado, reporters raised another question that why the Trump administration had aligned with Venezuelan Vice President Delci Rodríguez instead of Machado? In response, Trump drew a comparison with Iraq, referencing the aftermath of the dismantling of state institutions there.
“Well, if you ever remember a place called Iraq, where everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired, and they ended up being ISIS. Instead of just getting down to business, they ended being ISIS, so I remember that,” Trump said.
He further said, “But I’ll tell you, I had a great meeting yesterday with a person who I have a lot of respect for. And she has respect, obviously, for me and our country. And she gave me her Nobel Prize. But I’ll tell you what, I got to know her. I never met her before. And I was very, very impressed. She’s a really, this is a fine woman.”
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Nobel Institute clarifies position
Amid the controversy, the Nobel Institute issued a clarification, stating that Nobel Peace Prizes cannot be transferred to another individual. The institute said, “Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize. Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else's possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Machado’s statement after the meeting
A day after making the offer, Machado posted a public message. She wrote, “President Trump, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, thank you for this consequential conversation with you and your administration, one that reaffirms Venezuelans’ deep trust in the United States and in your leadership. Together, we will build a free and sovereign Venezuela: America’s most reliable and secure ally in the hemisphere. Thank you, Mr President."
