The Norwegian Nobel Institute squashed Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado‘s plan to give her Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump.
Machado offered to share the prize with Trump following U.S. military airstrikes on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. Trump said it would be “a great honor” to receive the award from Machado.
However, the Norwegian Nobel Institute says its prestigious award “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred,” citing its longstanding rules on awarded prizes.
“The facts are clear and well established,” the institute said in a statement on Friday. “Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.”
Trump and his MAGA base viewed Machado’s win as a snub. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung blamed the institute for “putting politics over peace.” Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., claimed that “nobody has done more in decades to bring peace to the world than Donald Trump.”
Trump has withheld his support for Machado after Maduro’s arrest, claiming she is “not respected” by the Venezuelan people. White House insiders have said his actual reasoning came down to her decision to accept tthe award, telling the Washington Post that she should have “turned it down” in favor of Trump.
“She’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one of the insiders said.
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