Ugh, we may be reaching levels of embarrassment not yet witnessed on Planet Earth. The Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Machado, was invited to the White House on Friday to meet Donald Trump – and presented him with the Nobel Peace Prize she won fair and square last year.
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Why has Trump been ‘given’ the Nobel Peace Prize?
President Trump has, quite obviously, welcomed the gesture, praising it as a ‘wonderful act of mutual respect’. Except, the word ‘mutual’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Since Machado was announced as the winner three months ago, Donald has aired his grievances about missing out.
In fact, several reports claim that Donald Trump chose not to back Machado to lead the country after the US government’s removal of President Nicolas Maduro, allegedly ‘because she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize’. Sources close to the White House said her acceptance ‘was the ultimate sin’.
In awarding Maria Machado the peace prize in October, the Nobel committee praised her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and her “struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
Yeah, all sounds very peaceful…
Meanwhile, Donald Trump – within the last 24 hours – has threatened to unleash the US Army onto the streets of Minneapolis, as protests against the presence of ICE agents continue to intensify. This, in a week where he has also set his sights on acquiring Greenland ‘by any means necessary’.
We’re not sure this is the sort of thing Alfred Nobel would’ve had in mind for the prize bearing his name. And yet, here we are. Toys get thrown out of a pram, and those who need the strategic support of Donald Trump have to find ways to placate him. Machado’s gesture, it seems, comes with caveats.
The same thing has essentially happened with FIFA. Football’s global governing body created a ‘Peace Prize’ just for the president, in order to stay in his good books ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which is being hosted in America. In the weeks that followed, the Trump Administration dropped bombs in both Nigeria and Venezuela.
Donald Trump adds ‘another participation trophy’ to the collection
The right-wing used to rally against this sort of stuff. Participation trophies for those who couldn’t stomach losing. Alas, those claiming that Trump now holds the Nobel Peace Prize are in for the shock. Just last week, the committee warned against sharing accolades, saying ‘they cannot be transferred’.
“We receive a number of requests for comments regarding the permanence of the Peace Prizes. The facts are clear and well established. Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.” | Norweigan Nobel Committee