María Corina Machado Says She Has No Regrets Over Nobel Medal Gift to Donald Trump

Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado said she had “no regrets” about symbolically handing over her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump in January, speaking at a news conference in Madrid.

“Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado draws a huge Madrid rally and rebuffs meeting with Spain's Sánchez Venezuela's exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado has drawn several thousand supporters to a rally in Madrid MADRID -- Venezuela's exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado drew several thousand supporters Saturday to a rally in Madrid, where the Nobel laureate declined a meeting with Spain's progressive Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on a multicountry European tour”

ABC News

Machado told reporters, “There is a leader in the world, a head of state in the world who risked the lives of his country’s citizens for Venezuela’s freedom,” and she repeated that framing when defending the decision.

ABC News

Multiple outlets tied the handover to the timing of Trump’s actions toward Caracas, saying Machado met Trump in the White House “just two weeks after he ordered US forces to attack Caracas and snatch Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.”

Al Jazeera also quoted Machado saying, “Trump's military operation to remove Maduro, who is currently detained in the U.S. facing drug trafficking charges, is something we Venezuelans will never forget.”

She added, “Consequently, no, I have no regrets” about gifting her Nobel medal to Trump, according to NDTV and other syndicated coverage.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s position was also reiterated in the reporting, stating that the honour “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others.”

Le Monde further reported Machado’s January remarks at the US Capitol, where she said, “I offered the President of the United States the Nobel Peace Prize medal,” and it described Trump’s public response praising the gesture as “magnificent gesture of mutual respect.”

Machado’s “no regrets” remarks came as she drew a large crowd in Madrid during a multicountry European tour, with ABC News describing her rally as drawing “several thousand supporters” to the Spanish capital.

ABC News said the Nobel laureate declined a meeting with Spain’s progressive Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was hosting a summit of like-minded progressive leaders in Barcelona, and Machado framed that refusal as a lesson from what she saw at the meeting.

Al Jazeera

“What happened in the last few hours at the meeting (Sánchez) held in Barcelona with several leaders and political figures from different countries demonstrates why such a meeting was not advisable,” Machado told reporters.

ABC News also described Machado standing beside Madrid’s conservative regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, one of Sánchez’s loudest critics, as Ayuso “feted her earlier in the day.”

The reporting placed Machado’s tour in a wider political context, saying Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez had continued in her temporary role “exceeding the 90-day limit initially imposed on it,” while the US government had lifted some sanctions against Rodríguez.

Machado criticized Rodríguez’s government as “chaos, violence and terror,” and she reiterated her belief in “the need and advent of democratic elections in Venezuela.”

In the same ABC News account, Machado insisted she would be returning to Venezuela but declined to say when or how, while also acknowledging the challenges implicit in a return.

NDTV and other outlets similarly reported that Machado was organizing her return to the country in coordination with Washington, and Pakistan Today quoted her saying, “I am speaking with the US government, and we are working in coordination, with mutual respect and understanding,” as part of that plan.

Across the coverage, Machado’s defense of her Nobel-to-Trump decision was paired with a claim that she is coordinating with Washington on a path back to Venezuela.

“Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Thursday, January 15, that she had 'offered' Donald Trump the medal of her Nobel Peace Prize, while the American president has kept her out of his strategy for Venezuela”

Le Monde.fr

ABC News said Machado told reporters she was in “permanent contact with officials in the Trump administration” and that she trusted Washington’s “phased process in Venezuela since Maduro's removal.”

Al Jazeera similarly reported that Machado said she was coordinating her return to the country with Washington and quoted her: “I am speaking with the U.S. government, and we are working in coordination, with mutual respect and understanding,” adding that she believed Washington was “key to advancing a democratic transition” in Venezuela.

Pakistan Today included the same coordination language and also said Machado was arranging her return “in coordination with Washington,” while describing her view that the United States was “key to advancing a democratic transition” in Venezuela.

The reporting also tied Machado’s stance to her broader political position after Venezuela’s opposition called for presidential elections, with ABC News saying her remarks came while interim President Delcy Rodríguez had continued beyond the 90-day limit and while the US government had lifted some sanctions.

Al Jazeera added that Machado declined a meeting with Pedro Sánchez while in Spain, citing his hosting of a progressive leaders’ summit in Barcelona as proof the meeting was “not advisable,” and it contrasted that with her frequent encounters with Sánchez’s right-wing opponents.

Le Monde provided additional detail about the US side of the relationship, saying White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt commented that Machado “is really a remarkable and courageous voice for many Venezuelans,” while the meeting was still ongoing.

Le Monde also described Trump’s public posture toward elections, saying Trump was “ruling out holding elections and prefers to 'dictate' until further notice the decisions of the leadership team that remains in place in Caracas,” which Machado’s supporters and opposition figures would likely see as part of the dispute over democratic transition.

The reporting also emphasized the distinction between the Nobel Peace Prize itself and the physical medal Machado handed to Trump.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s clarification appeared across multiple outlets, including the statement that the honour it represents “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others.”

Pakistan Today

NDTV and Pakistan Today both repeated that the Committee made clear after Machado handed over her 2025 Nobel medal to Trump that the honour “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others.”

Le Monde added further nuance by citing the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, which it said noted on X that laureates could dispose of the gold medal associated with the distinction as they saw fit, while adding: “A medal can change hands, but not the title of a laureate.”

Le Monde also described Machado’s January presentation as a “magnificent gesture of mutual respect” on Trump’s side, quoting Trump’s Truth Social post: “Maria handed me her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. What a magnificent gesture of mutual respect. Thank you, Maria!”

In the same Le Monde account, Machado told reporters at the Capitol, “I offered the President of the United States the Nobel Peace Prize medal,” and when asked whether Trump had kept the medal, she did not answer.

The coverage also placed the handover in a broader timeline of US actions, with Le Monde saying it came shortly after the “abduction by U.S. special forces of Nicolás Maduro,” who is “now detained in the United States.”

South China Morning Post and Al Jazeera both connected Machado’s defense to that same sequence, with South China Morning Post saying Machado presented her Nobel Prize to Trump “just two weeks after he ordered US forces to attack Caracas and snatch Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.”

The sources portray Machado’s “no regrets” stance as part of a larger, unresolved political contest in Venezuela, where she remains a central opposition figure but has been barred from running in the 2024 presidential election.

“Machado Has 'No Regrets' About Giving Nobel Peace Prize to Trump email: online@newsofbahrain”

News of Bahrain

ABC News said Machado’s multistop European tour unfolded while interim President Delcy Rodríguez continued in her temporary role “exceeding the 90-day limit initially imposed on it,” and it said the US government had lifted some sanctions against Rodríguez.

South China Morning Post

Al Jazeera reported that Venezuela’s opposition last week called for presidential elections, while also noting that Machado “has not yet said whether she would stand in a future poll.”

It also said Machado was banned from running in the disputed 2024 vote that returned Maduro to power, and it described Trump’s posture as backing Delcy Rodríguez as interim leader.

Le Monde added that Trump was “ruling out holding elections” and prefers to “dictate” until further notice decisions by the leadership team in Caracas, which directly clashes with the opposition’s call for elections described by Al Jazeera and ABC News.

Machado’s own comments in the US-linked context were framed as a belief that Washington is “key to advancing a democratic transition” in Venezuela, and she said she was “working in coordination” with the US government.

In Madrid, ABC News described a Venezuelan migrant, 27-year-old Grehlsy Peñuela, who attended the rally and said she would consider returning to Venezuela only if “That the current government completely steps down.”

The same ABC News report said Machado insisted she would be returning to Venezuela but declined to say when or how, leaving the timing uncertain even as she said she was preparing for a “moment of reunion and of building a nation that will be free forever,” a line NDTV attributed to her.