Nobel Committee Reaffirms Prize Is Non-Transferable After Machado Gifts Medal to Trump

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday reiterated that a Nobel Prize once awarded can never be shared, transferred, or revoked, underscoring that the honour remains permanently tied to the original laureate.

The clarification came after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, presented her framed Nobel medal to Donald Trump during a White House meeting at the Oval Office on Thursday. Machado said the gesture was in recognition of what she described as Trump’s support for Venezuelan freedom and democratic change.

In its statement, the Nobel Committee stressed that the medal and diploma are physical symbols of the award, but the actual peace prize — the honour and recognition — remains inseparably linked to the person officially named as the laureate. Even if the medal or diploma is later in someone else’s possession, it does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The committee also noted that in the past, some Nobel laureates have donated or sold their medals, without affecting their recorded status as prize recipients.

Trump, who has previously publicly expressed his lifelong desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize, accepted the framed medal and later thanked Machado on his social media platform, describing her gesture as one of “mutual respect.” Analysts say the symbolic exchange has drawn global attention to the rules governing the Nobel Prize and the politicisation surrounding it.