Blow for Trump as Nobel Peace Prize committee addresses ‘sharing’ plan | World | News
The committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize has dismissed suggestions that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado could “share” her award with Donald Trump. The Norweigan Nobel Institute said on Friday that once a peace prize is announced, “it cannot be revoked, shared or transfered to others”. “The decision is final and stands for all time,” a spokesperson added.
It comes after Ms Machado herself floated the idea during an appearance on Fox News, where she praised the US leader for his “historic” military action in Venezuela, describing it as “a huge step towards a democratic transition”. Mr Trump, who has long expressed an interest in winning the prestigious award and frequently touted the number of wars he believes he has helped to end, also told Fox on Thursday that sharing the prize would be “a great honour”.
Asked if she had offered to give Mr Trump the coveted prize, Ms Machado said: “It hasn’t happened yet. I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe – the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people – certainly want to give it to him and share it with him.”
The opposition leader, who secretly escaped Venezuela for Norway in December to receive the award, added that she had dedicated it to Mr Trump, even before the capture of President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.
“Let me be clear,” she said. “As soon as I learned that we had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I dedicated it to President Trump because I believed at that point that he deserved it.
“And a lot of people, most people, said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, January 3.”
Mr Trump hailed the major military operation in Venezuela just days into the new year as “brilliant”, but has so far failed to recognise Ms Machado as the South American country’s rightful leader.
The Nobel Prize winner was barred from running in Venezuela’s 2024 general election, but backed a stand-in candidate who was widely considered to have won the vote, despite Maduro claiming victory.
The US President has described her as a “very nice woman” but said he believes she lacks sufficient support within the country to govern.
While he has instead acknowledged Maduro’s former vice president Delcy Rodriguez as acting leader, Mr Trump said he plans to meet with Ms Machado in Washington DC next week.
