Hours after President Donald Trump said what an “honor” it would be to win the Nobel Peace Prize, his dream was dashed.
Trump, 79, will host Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado in the Oval Office next week and will lobby publicly and behind the scenes for Machado to hand the award to Trump, both to appease the president and to encourage him to support her in succeeding deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Trump discussed the possibility in an interview with Sean Hannity on Thursday, excitedly saying: “I heard she wanted to do it. That would be a great honor.”
Trump talks with Hannity about Machado’s visit. / fox
Trump repeated his peace credentials in now-familiar fashion, boasting, “I’ve stopped eight wars” and calling his failure to win the award “a huge embarrassment.” “Theoretically, when you have eight wars, you should have one war of each,” he argued.
Within hours, however, Trump’s hopes were dashed by Norway’s Nobel Institute, which said its rules would not allow its coveted prize to be passed on to someone else.
A spokesperson told The Daily Beast on Friday: “The Nobel Prize can neither be revoked nor transferred to another person. Once the winner is announced, the decision is permanent. As for the prize money, the winner is free to dispose of it as they see fit.”
Machado dedicated her victory to Donald Trump. But that’s as far as it goes, according to the Norwegian Nobel Institute. /Run Hellestad/Getty Images
The organization’s refusal to change its own rules would disappoint not only Trump but also some of his loyal supporters, who reportedly lobbied Machado to give the president his coveted award.
Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, 54, the wife of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, has reportedly been working publicly and privately to get Machado to give the award to Trump when they meet next week, according to political reporter Rachael Bade’s Substack.
Bader wrote that Campos-Duffy reportedly worked to get Machado in the Oval Office audience to have her “give the Nobel Peace Prize to Trump,” and said the push came from Trumpworld insiders who knew the president cared deeply about the award.
Trump is reportedly a fan of Campos Duffy, who is pictured here with her husband, Sean Duffy. / Bill Clark/ Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
The Venezuelan opposition leader, who has been in hiding for months ahead of the U.S.-led operation to oust Maduro on January 3, plans to press Trump over Venezuela’s future and her own role in leading the country.
Trump said of the prospect: “I think it’s going to be very difficult for her to become leader… She doesn’t have domestic support, she doesn’t get domestic respect. She’s a very good woman, but she doesn’t get respect.” Instead, Trump tacitly supported interim acting leader Delcy Rodriguez.
Nicolás Maduro was handcuffed and escorted by heavily armed federal agents after landing at a Manhattan helicopter pad. / XNY/Star Max / XNY/Star Max/GC Image
But Campos-Duffy sought to reverse the situation publicly and privately, arguing on air that Rodriguez was the “wrong person in charge,” claiming she was behind executions of dissidents and acted as a “torture ringleader,” according to Bader.
In contrast, Campos-Duffy described Machado as “pro-American,” said she “respects President Trump,” and stressed that Machado “will work with the president on economic issues, oil issues, and rooting out corruption.”
Trump has insisted for years that he deserves the Peace Prize for allegedly ending a series of global conflicts, even inventing one between far-flung countries to bolster his list of “victories.” However, despite Machado’s lobbying, the Norwegian committee awarded the 2025 Peace Prize to Machado instead of him.
Allies tried to fill the void with false honors. FIFA President Gianni Infantino invented the “FIFA Peace Prize,” which was awarded to Trump on the Kennedy Center stage just weeks after the Nobel committee passed on Trump.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Campos-Duffy for comment through Fox News and the White House.