Donald Trump has long been outspoken about believing he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Recently, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado handed him the medal she received earlier this year while visiting him. Naturally, this raised questions about the legitimacy of such a gift, leading the Nobel Peace Center to release an unusual statement about whether Trump can truly claim the award.
Trump has been angling for the Nobel Peace Prize for quite some time. As the announcement for the 2025 recipient drew near, he increased his claims, stating that he was responsible for preventing “eight wars” and, therefore, deserved recognition.
Back in October, he took aim at former President Barack Obama for receiving the prize in 2009.
“He got it for basically nothing,” Trump commented. “Obama didn’t even know why he won it. They just awarded it to him because he got elected, even though he didn’t achieve anything significant.”
Trump continued, calling Obama an ineffective president and asserting that his own election win in 2024 was far more significant than Obama’s in 2008.
However, Trump did not receive the 2025 Nobel Prize. Following his criticisms of Obama, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced María Corina Machado as the winner.
Trump’s relentless quest for the Nobel was undeterred. He referred to the situation as an “embarrassment” for Norway, despite the country having no role in the selection process.
“No one deserves the Nobel more than I do,” he insisted.
In an unexpected turn of events, Trump received a semblance of what he wanted. During Machado’s visit to the White House on Thursday, she presented him with her Nobel medal.
Why did she do this? The reasons remain unclear, although some speculate it was her method of winning favor with Trump, hoping for cooperation with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez. An event photo shows Trump speaking at a casino resort.
Presenting the Prize to Trump
“I presented the Nobel Peace Prize medal to the U.S. President,” Machado revealed to the press after their meeting, adding it was “in acknowledgment of his strong dedication to our freedom.”
Trump later shared on social media that she had left the medal with him.
He praised her as an incredible woman who had faced numerous hardships and said she gave him the prize for the efforts he had made. “What a wonderful sign of respect. Thank you, María!” he wrote.
Trump’s supporters, especially those aligned with the MAGA movement, applauded him for
