Nobel Foundation Says Peace Prize Cannot Be Transferred

Nobel Foundation Says Peace Prize Cannot Be Transferred After Machado Gives Medal to Trump The Nobel Foundation has insisted that the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred or passed on — even symbolically after Venezuelan laureate María Corina Machado handed her medal to Donald Trump during a White House meeting.
Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on democracy and human rights in Venezuela, surprised global audiences by presenting the physical medal to Trump as a gesture of appreciation. Trump thanked her on social media, calling the gift “a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”
But the Nobel Foundation clarified in a statement that the official Peace Prize honour remains permanently tied to the original laureate and cannot be re-assigned, shared, or handed over to someone else regardless of what happens to the physical medal, diploma, or prize money. The Foundation said its role is to uphold Alfred Nobel’s will, which defines how prizes are awarded, and stressed that a Nobel Prize can never be revoked, shared or transferred once announced.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee also confirmed that while recipients are free to give away or sell their medals, the title of Nobel Peace Prize laureate remains inseparable from the person chosen.
The clarification comes amid renewed global debate about the symbolic gesture and Trump’s long-expressed desire to receive a Nobel Peace Prize, even as the foundation makes clear the rules governing the prestigious award cannot be bent.