Machado faces criticism

New Delhi: Has the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize lost its sheen? Did Venezuelan Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado belittle the prestige of the coveted award by giving it away?

María Corina Machado, who presented her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump as a symbolic gesture of 'gratitude for his support of Venezuela's freedom struggle,' faces criticism and joins a group of Nobel laureates who have rejected or presented their awards to others for different reasons.

The general perception is whether Machado should have presented it to Trump, particularly days after US forces invaded her country and arrested her country's President Nicolas Maduro, along with his wife.

Her gesture has sparked controversy, especially in Norway, with critics viewing it as an attempt to curry political favour or a bargaining chip. While presenting her gold Nobel medal to President Trump during a private White House meeting, Machado described it as an 'act of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people for his role in the removal of Nicolás Maduro.'

Machado put the award in a proper frame with a signed note which said 'To Donald J Trump, in gratitude for your extraordinary leadership in promoting peace through strength, advancing diplomacy and defending liberty and prosperity.'

She said the award was presented as a 'personal symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people in recognition of President Trump's principled and decisive action to secure a free Venezuela.'

Trump, who had been demanding the award, called it a "wonderful gesture of mutual respect" and confirmed he intends to keep the physical medal. Despite this symbolic exchange, the Nobel Committee emphasised that Trump is not officially recognised as a Nobel laureate.

The Nobel Committee, while announcing the award for Machado in October 2025, had said they had decided to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado for her 'tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.'

Machado's gesture has been criticised in many political circles, particularly in Norway. The decision has been widely condemned by Norwegian politicians and some international observers, who view it as a political stunt that demeans the prestige and values of the Nobel Peace Prize. President Trump was asked by reporters 'why did you want someone else's Nobel Prize?' He said 'she offered it to me. I thought it was very nice. She said you have ended eight wars and nobody deserves this prize more than in history than you do. And I thought it was a very nice gesture.

And by the way, I think she is a very fine woman, and we will be talking again.'

The Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute issued an official statement clarifying that a Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked once it has been awarded.