Sunday January 11, 2026
OSLO, Norway (AX) — The Norwegian Nobel Institute said Friday that the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared or revoked, addressing comments by Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado suggesting she might give or share her 2025 award with former U.S. President Donald Trump.
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In a brief statement citing the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, the institute said the prize decision, once announced, is irrevocable and cannot be altered in any way. “The decision is final and stands for all time,” the institute said, adding there is no mechanism under the prize’s rules to reassign or share the award after its announcement.
The clarification followed Machado’s public praise of Trump for what she described as his role in the U.S. operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In a Fox News interview this week, Machado called those actions historic and said she would like to share the award with Trump on behalf of the Venezuelan people.
Trump, who has repeatedly expressed interest in the Nobel Peace Prize, said Thursday that the prospect of such an offer would be “a great honor.” He also indicated he planned to meet Machado in Washington next week.
The institute noted that Nobel committees do not comment on what laureates say or do after awards are announced. Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize are selected by an independent committee in Oslo under long-standing guidelines that emphasize contributions to peace and human rights.
Friday’s statement underscored the hard limits of the Nobel system: laureates may dedicate, donate or symbolically acknowledge others, but the legal status of the award itself does not change after the committee’s decision is made public. There is no provision in the rules to split, transfer, rescind or retroactively add co-recipients once an award year is settled.
Machado, a prominent figure in Venezuela’s opposition movement and barred from the country’s 2024 presidential race, has been a vocal supporter of U.S. actions against Maduro. Despite her praise of Trump, she has not secured his endorsement for her leadership. Instead, Trump has backed acting President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, according to statements cited by Machado’s camp.
The episode highlights the intense political crosscurrents surrounding the 2025 peace prize and the Venezuelan crisis. It also reflects a pattern in which high-profile political figures invoke the Nobel brand—whether through endorsements or criticism—while the Oslo-based committee maintains strict neutrality on post-award rhetoric.
Under the Nobel framework, any laureate’s personal gestures or statements carry no procedural effect on the award. The institute’s message Friday is consistent with past practice: the committee’s decisions are final, and the Nobel Peace Prize is neither a negotiable instrument nor a transferable honor.
Neither Machado’s team nor representatives for Trump immediately offered further details about their anticipated Washington meeting. The Norwegian Nobel Institute did not elaborate beyond its statement.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
