It was a moment few expected—and one loaded with symbolism.
During a White House meeting on Thursday, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado handed her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump, a gesture meant to carry both gratitude and political weight.
According to a White House official, Trump intends to keep the medal.
Soon after, the president took to social media, sharing his reaction with characteristic flair.
“Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” Trump wrote. “Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you Maria!”
For Machado, the move was deeply intentional.
She later described the meeting as “excellent” and said the gift recognized what she called Trump’s commitment to the freedom of the Venezuelan people—a cause she has long championed while challenging the rule of Nicolas Maduro.
Behind the smiles and handshakes, however, was a clear political undercurrent.
Machado’s outreach came after Trump publicly dismissed the idea of backing her as Venezuela’s leader to replace Maduro. The meeting, and the medal, appeared to be part of a broader effort to gain influence over how the US president might shape Venezuela’s political future.
The moment also carried irony.
Trump had openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize in the past and expressed frustration when he was passed over—most recently when Machado herself received the honor last month.
Still, the Nobel remains hers.
While Machado handed over the gold medal given to laureates, the Norwegian Nobel Institute has been clear: the prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked. Symbolically powerful as the gesture may be, the honor stays with Machado.
Asked a day earlier whether he wanted Machado to give him the prize, Trump brushed the idea aside.
“No, I didn’t say that,” he told Reuters. “She won the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Yet now, the medal sits with him—a quiet, gleaming reminder of a meeting where diplomacy, ambition, and symbolism collided.
In Washington, it was more than a gift.
It was a message.
