Nobel Foundation Panics After Machado Gifts Trump Her Award, Says Prize Cannot Be ‘Passed On’
The foundation that awards the Nobel Peace Prize has clarified that a Nobel, once awarded, cannot be “passed on.”
The Nobel Foundation made a statement on the non-transferability of its awards after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gifted her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump last week. The clarifications suggest that the foundation is concerned with being connected to the President of the United States despite numerous world leaders nominating Trump himself to receive a peace prize.
“One of the core missions of the Nobel Foundation is to safeguard the dignity of the Nobel Prizes and their administration,” the foundation said in a statement on Sunday.
“The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel’s will and its stipulations. It states that the prizes shall be awarded to those who ‘have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind,’ and it specifies who has the right to award each respective prize. A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed,” it said.
The statement followed a release the foundation published on Friday explaining the symbolism behind the award and how, no matter what happens to the physical prize itself, the original recipient of the prize is always considered a Nobel laureate.
“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,” the release states. “Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else’s possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”
“A laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced. A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked. The decision is final and applies for all time,” it continues.
The Nobel Foundation’s repeated clarifications on the Nobel symbolism come after Trump received the Nobel Prize from Machado, who gave Trump her prize after the United States used military force to raid Venezuela and arrest and extradite former dictator Nicolás Maduro. Maduro is imprisoned in New York on charges related to drug trafficking.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters after meeting with Trump at the White House, “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
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