Nobel can't be passed on, even symbolically: Committee on Machado's Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation designated as the laureate, the Norwegian Nobel Institute said in a statement on Friday.

The clarification comes after the 2025 laureate, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, on Thursday gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump.

"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 award body said in a statement.

On Sunday, the Nobel Foundation reiterated that Machado's Peace Prize cannot be transferred to him. It aims to "safeguard the dignity of the Nobel Prizes and their administration" and uphold "Alfred Nobel’s will and its stipulations," as per a statement on X.

"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," the Nobel Foundation stated.

Machado left her Nobel Peace Prize medal at the White House after meeting US President Donald Trump, a symbolic gesture aimed at securing Washington’s backing as Venezuela navigates an uncertain political future following the fall of Nicolas Maduro.

Later, a White House official confirmed that the gold medal remains in Trump’s possession.

Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her campaign to promote democracy and a peaceful transition in Venezuela, said she had “presented the President of the United States with the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize”, describing it as recognition of his “unique commitment with our freedom”.