Donald Trump Sends Venezuelan Opposition Leader Away with Trump-Branded Swag Bag After She Hands over Her Nobel Peace Prize

President Donald Trump is now in possession of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize after its recipient, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, seemingly picked up on his hints that he felt he deserved to win.

On Thursday, Jan. 15, Machado visited the White House and privately presented the Peace Prize to Trump, nestling the medal in a golden frame with text that reads, “To President Donald J. Trump, In Gratitude for Your Extraordinary Leadership in Promoting Peace Through Strength, Advancing Diplomacy, and Defending Liberty and Prosperity.”

“Presented as a Personal Symbol of Gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan People in Recognition of President Trump’s Principled and Decisive Action to Secure a Free Venezuela,” the text on the frame continues. “The Courage of America, and its President Donald J. Trump, will Never be Forgotten by the Venezuelan People.”

In return for handing over her Peace Prize, Trump sent Machado away with a red swag bag that bears his signature in golden script.

After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in October — an award that Trump had publicly campaigned for — Machado publicly dedicated the honor to the United States president.

Still, when the United States launched strikes in Caracas on Jan. 3 and captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, Trump expressed skepticism that Machado deserved to become the nation’s new president, saying “it’d be very tough for her” to lead because she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”

Trump instead said that the United States would “run” the country, and stood down when Maduro’s vice president was sworn in as the acting president of Venezuela.

A White House source later told The Washington Post that Machado accepting the Nobel Peace Prize was the “ultimate sin” in Trump’s eyes, claiming, “If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today.”

Machado ultimately said that she “wants to give” Trump her Nobel Peace Prize — an idea that Trump promptly expressed support for.

“I’ve heard that she wants to do that,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Jan. 8. “That would be a great honor.”

Trump’s remark prompted the Nobel Committee to release a rare statement the following day, warning that the prize was non-transferrable and rightfully belonged to Machado.

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute receive a number of requests for comments regarding the permanence of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s status,” read a Jan. 9 news release from the committee. “The facts are clear and well established. Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.”

Following her White House visit on Thursday, Machado was the first to share that she used the visit to hand over her Peace Prize medal.

“I presented the President of the United States the medal, the peace, the Nobel Peace Prize,” she told Fox News, noting the gift was “in recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

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Trump later posted on Truth Social, “It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”