No Nobel Peace Prize For Trump? At Least Note His 'Unprecedented Accomplishments', Says White House Official

(MENAFN- Live Mint) White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on Sunday the Nobel Foundation should at least highlight US President Donald Trump's“unprecedented accomplishments” if he can't be gifted its peace prize.

Cheung contended that Trump“rightfully deserves the Nobel Peace Prize” for his efforts to end global conflicts around the world.“Instead of trying to play politics, they should highlight the President's unprecedented accomplishments,” he wrote on X.

Cheung's statement came days after Nobel laureate and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she had presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump during their meeting on Thursday, describing the gesture as recognition for his support for Venezuelan freedom and democratic efforts.

Machado had won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in championing democratic rights and a peaceful transition in Venezuela.

Speaking to reporters following her meeting with Trump, Machado said she gave the medal as a symbol of appreciation for his "unique commitment to our freedom".

"I presented the President of the United States the medal...the Nobel Peace Prize, and I told him this: 200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington's face on it. Bolivar, since then, kept that medal for the rest of his life. It was given as a symbol of brotherhood to showcase the relation between the people of the US and Venezuela," Machado said.

"Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal, in this case the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, as a recognition for his unique commitment to our freedom," she added.

President Trump also acknowledged Machado's gesture, calling it "a wonderful gesture of mutual respect" in a post on Truth Social and thanked her for the medal.

'A prize cannot even symbolically be passed on'

The Nobel Foundation reiterated on Sunday that Nobel Prizes cannot be passed on or further distributed, days after the Institute issued a statement saying that a laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced.

On Sunday, in a post on X, it said that one of the core missions of the Nobel Foundation is to safeguard the dignity of the Nobel Prizes and their administration.

The post noted, "The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel's will and its stipulations. It states that the prizes shall be awarded to those who "have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind," and it specifies who has the right to award each respective prize. A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed."

Earlier on January 16, the official website for the Nobel Prize said, "A laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced."

It added, "A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked. The decision is final and applies for all time. The Norwegian Nobel Committee does not see it as their role to engage in day-to-day commentary on Peace Prize laureates or the political processes that they are engaged in."

"The prize is awarded on the basis of the laureate' contributions by the time that the committee's decision is taken," the Committee had said.

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