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Venezuelan Opposition Leader Gifts President Trump Her Nobel Peace Prize

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  January 16, 2026 10:30 AM

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented President Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday night, an award she received in October for her efforts in fighting for freedom in her country. When asked why she chose to give the honor to Trump, Machado replied simply: “Because he deserves it.”

Venezuela's opposition leader presented the award to Trump, just weeks after the United States carried out an operation that saw the brutal socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, captured in only a few hours. Citizens of Venezuela celebrated the operation as a great victory in their fight for freedom.

“I wanted to share with President Trump my profound trust in the Venezuelan people,” she said of the private lunch meeting she had with  Trump.

“We are people that love United States of America, that share values, that admire the strength of your institutions, that want to live with democracy and dignity and justice and freedom."

“I wanted to convey this to him, and for him to know how much support and hope there is today in Venezuela regarding what he’s doing in our country,” she added.

President Trump took to Truth Social shortly after their private meeting, writing:

It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!

Daniel Di Martino, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a Venezuelan immigrant, argued that the president earned the medal through his actions against Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela. He accused Democrats of hypocrisy for opposing the president’s military efforts while standing next to Machado and expressing outrage that she would gift him the award. He added that the political left has never genuinely supported Venezuela’s freedom movement.

The president simply deserves the medal, more than this being some sort of bribe, which I feel is what the media is trying to present. The reality is that President Trump captured Maduro; President Trump is being the only person that's been trying to help Venezuela obtain freedom. I found it a little hypocritical to see the Democrats try to smile there with Machado when just a few days ago, they were voting to end the military engagement that the president had been doing. So I mean, the Democrats have not supported at all the Venezuelan freedom movement. In fact, it was Joe Biden who released Maduro's nephews from prison, as well as one of his key financiers, Alex Saab. 

"And so I think the president deserves it. I'm happy that it was a private lunch, that it went over time, that Marco Rubio was there, and I think they have already laid out a transition plan," he added.