Donald Trump has justified accepting Maria Corina Machado's Nobel Peace Prize medal with a simple "she offered it to me" and attributed it to ending eight wars. Venezuela's opposition leader, Machado, presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Trump on Thursday, and he accepted it. In return, Trump heaped praise on the "wonderful woman" and called it a "wonderful gesture of mutual respect."
When asked why he would want someone else's Nobel Prize and what he intends to do with it, Trump said, "Well, she offered it to me. I thought it was very nice. She said, you know, you have ended eight wars, and nobody deserves this prize more than - in history - than you do. And I thought it was a very nice gesture."
Trump signed off with a "very fine woman" compliment for Machado.
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What Machado Said
Earlier on Thursday, after presenting the award to Trump, Machado said she did so "as a recognition for his unique commitment with our (Venezuela) freedom."
Machado had a closed-door meeting with Trump at the White House, and the two are said to have discussed the leadership in Venezuela.
"We can count on President Trump," Machado told supporters waiting outside the White House without elaborating, prompting some to briefly chant, "Thank you, Trump."
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"Nobel Prize And Laureate Are Inseparable"
The Nobel Peace Prize can neither be shared nor transferred nor revoked, the Norwegian Nobel Committee once again clarified on Friday, a day after Machado's gesture for Trump made headlines.
"A Nobel Peace Prize laureate receives two central symbols of the prize: a gold medal and a diploma. In addition, the prize money is awarded separately. Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize. Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else's possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize," the award body said in a statement.
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The Norwegian Nobel Committee refused to engage in the ongoing events and discussions surrounding the presentation of the medal to a politician. The award body also clarified that there are "no restrictions" on what a laureate may do with the medal, the diploma, or the prize money.
This means that a laureate is free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items.
