The Norwegian Nobel Committee has issued a formal statement addressing the inseparable connection between the Nobel Peace Prize and its designated laureate. This declaration comes in response to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s presentation of her 2025 Peace Prize medal to former U.S. President Donald Trump during a January 15th meeting at the Oval Office.
The Committee emphasized that while laureates maintain full autonomy over the physical components of the award—including the medal, diploma, and monetary prize—the historical recognition remains exclusively with the original recipient. “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 statement clarified.
The unusual transfer occurred during Machado’s high-profile visit to Washington, where she presented Trump with the gold medal displayed in an elaborate frame. White House officials confirmed the former president intends to retain the medal despite the Committee’s position that such transfers do not alter the official record of achievement.
The Nobel Foundation’s statutes contain no restrictions regarding laureates’ disposition of their award components, permitting recipients to “keep, give away, sell, or donate these items” according to their discretion. Machado’s complete award package included not only the medal but also the official diploma and 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately $1.19 million).
The Committee’s unusual public statement serves both as clarification of protocol and reaffirmation of the award’s institutional integrity amid international attention surrounding the medal’s transfer between two controversial political figures.