Nobel Prize Committee Issues Formal Notice Demanding Return of Peace Prize and $10 Million From Maria Machado After The Venezuelan Opposition Leader Gifts Award to Donald Trump, Citing Breach of Contract

Nobel Committee Demands Return of Prize and Funds After Controversial Transfer to Trump

The Nobel Prize Committee issued a rare and strongly worded statement today demanding the immediate return of a Nobel Peace Prize and its accompanying $10 million grant from a Venezuelan opposition leader who recently gifted the award to former U.S. President Donald Trump during a public appearance. The Committee alleges that the gesture constitutes a breach of contract and a violation of the Nobel Foundation’s long-standing rules regarding the non-transferable nature of its awards.

According to the Committee, all Nobel laureates sign an agreement that confirms the award cannot be transferred, reassigned, or commercially exploited in ways that distort the purpose of the prize. The Nobel Foundation argued that gifting the award—both symbolically and physically—fell under prohibited use and threatened the integrity and neutrality of the institution.

“This unprecedented action cannot stand, as it undermines the principles upon which Alfred Nobel established the Peace Prize,” the Committee said in its statement, emphasizing that the award must be returned in full, including the prize medal and financial endowment.

Beyond reclaiming the prize, the Committee also announced that both the Venezuelan opposition figure and Trump have been permanently barred from current and future nomination processes. Officials described the blacklisting as “exceptional” but justified due to what they referred to as “an intentional and public disregard for the spirit of the Nobel Peace Prize.”

The decision has sparked debate across diplomatic, academic, and media circles. Supporters of the Venezuelan politician argued that her act was symbolic—intended to highlight what she described as global leadership dynamics—while critics insist that the stunt was reckless and disrespectful to the Nobel system.

Legal analysts are divided over how the Nobel Foundation intends to enforce its financial demands. While the organization has no governmental enforcement power, it does retain civil pathways through Scandinavian judicial systems, particularly in cases involving contractual breaches by recipients who signed binding agreements within Norwegian or Swedish jurisdiction.

International reaction has been swift. Nordic cultural institutions, peace research organizations, and former Nobel committee members have publicly backed the Foundation, stating that failing to respond would set a dangerous precedent for politicization of the prize.

Meanwhile, neither the Venezuelan opposition leader nor Trump has issued official comments regarding the Committee’s demands.

If the Nobel Foundation proceeds with legal action, it would mark one of the most dramatic enforcement steps taken by the institution in its more than century-long history—highlighting just how seriously it guards the reputation and neutrality of the world’s most prestigious peace award.