US President, Donald Trump spoke with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado on Friday, October 10, shortly after his administration publicly criticized the decision to grant her the honor.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the 2025 accolade would go to the Venezuelan opposition leader for her efforts in promoting democratic rights and her “struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Speaking to reporters late Friday evening, President Trump confirmed the conversation, adding that Machado was “very nice.”
“The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me and said, ‘I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it,’” the President said.
He then added, jokingly, “A very nice thing to do. I didn’t, I didn’t say, ‘Then give it to me,’ though I think she might have. She was very nice.”
Trump, who has long campaigned for the Nobel Prize himself, also claimed he has “been helping her along the way,” and suggested the award may have been intended for his 2024 presidential campaign efforts, stating, “you could also say it was given out for ’24 and I was running for office in ‘24.” Machado, who also confirmed the conversation, had previously expressed gratitude to Trump.
Hours earlier, the White House had reacted negatively to the announcement, which was widely seen as a snub to Trump despite his recent international peace efforts.
White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on social media: “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.” Other allies of the President echoed the sentiment, with Trump’s special envoy for Venezuela, Richard Grenell, declaring the “Nobel Prize died years ago.”
Despite the administration’s official reaction, Machado publicly dedicated her win to the US President. She wrote in a social media post that she dedicated the prize “to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”
The award highlights the complex relationship between the US and the Venezuelan opposition. Machado, who has been driven into hiding amid a sharp crackdown by President Nicolas Maduro, has championed the cause of democracy, promoting “ballots over bullets.”
Her nomination was previously supported by key administration figures. In a November 2024 letter, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with other lawmakers, wrote that Machado’s “courageous and selfless leadership, and unyielding dedication to the pursuit of peace and democratic ideals, make her a most deserving candidate for this prestigious award.”
However, some experts noted that the Nobel Committee’s choice, and its focus on non-violent democratic struggle, could be interpreted as a subtle critique of US policy, particularly the administration’s military presence in the Caribbean to combat “narcotrafficking,” a campaign some view as an attempt to forcefully remove the Venezuelan leader.
The President’s reaction also came after he publicly thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for remarks made earlier in the day.
Putin, while not mentioning Machado, had questioned the committee’s choices, saying, “Whether the current US president deserves the Nobel Prize or not, I don’t know. But he’s really doing a lot to resolve complex crises that last for years, even decades.
