Machado gives Trump Nobel Peace Prize medal
US President Donald Trump welcomed Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado to the White House on Thursday to discuss the future of her country, Venezuela. At the end of the meeting, Machado presented the president with the Nobel Peace Prize medal she received last year, citing his commitment to the freedom of the Venezuelan people. Commentators are appalled.
Pathetic bootlicking
Jutarnji list is angered by Machado's gesture:
“There has probably never been a more pathetic spectacle than that in which María Corina Machado, member of the Venezuelan opposition and Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2025, presented Donald Trump with her medal in order to shamelessly curry favour with him - on the grounds of his 'unique dedication to our freedom'. Driven by her desire to be appointed President of Venezuela by Trump, she essentially spat on the Nobel Prize and belittled herself in the process. Even Maduro's clique appears more honourable by comparison, even though it has run a once promising country into the ground.”
No more seeking peace (prizes)
Sociologist Igor Eidman writes on Facebook:
“It's like thinking you're an Olympic champion just because someone gave you an Olympic medal. ... So he no longer craves the real Nobel Prize so much now. Otherwise, he would not have imposed sanctions on Norway and behaved so aggressively towards the Europeans over Greenland. It is clear that this ruins his chances of winning the real Nobel Peace Prize. ... Now his interest in Russia's war against Ukraine is also likely to wane considerably.”
A symptom of decay
Journalist Vitaly Portnikov warns on Facebook:
“I would not rule out the possibility that Trump will now try to collect the awards of all future Nobel Peace Prize winners - at least for the next three years. ... This constant craving for awards, the willingness to accept fictitious prizes, the desire to name everything possible after himself, the genuine dissatisfaction with the decisions of independent institutions. Yes, Americans may not understand what's happening because they've never been in a similar situation before. But people who have lived through the Soviet experience know full well: the glamour of the shiny medals is a clear sign of the creeping degeneration of state power.”