The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee weighed in on President Donald Trump's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize that belonged to the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Senator Mark Warner described the move as 'silly' while also questioning Trump's strategy on Venezuela after US soldiers seized its leader, Nicholas Maduro.
Speaking on CBS Face the Nation, Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, commented on Trump accepting Machado's Nobel Prize during her White House visit on 15 January. 'Let me be clear: The Biden administration screwed up in 2024 when the Venezuelan people voted overwhelmingly to throw out Maduro and we didn't push him out,' Warner said. 'But to suddenly say to the leader, Machado, which was the leader of the Venezuelan opposition – who got the Nobel Prize – I mean, does President Trump not realise he looks kind of silly taking that prize from her as she tries to basically suck up to him?'
Warner's Concerns
Warner continued, 'And the fact is, what she has said, and again publicly, is that, yes, you got rid of Maduro, but the same people that tortured and imprisoned the Venezuelan opposition are still in control of the regime.'
The comments came as part of Warner questioning what Trump plans to do about Venezuela after the administration ousted Maduro.
Our closest allies are sending troops to Greenland. What the hell is this administration doing? pic.twitter.com/eL8GseehPx
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) January 18, 2026
Machado's Gift
A longtime supporter of Trump's aggressive approach on her country, Machado visited the White House on 15 January to personally give her Nobel Prize to the US leader. When Machado was first awarded the Nobel Prize, she dedicated it to Trump as well as the people of Venezuela.
'I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize. I told him this: 200 years ago, Gen. Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington's face on it. Bolivar since then kept the medal for the rest of his life,' Machado told reporters Thursday
'Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal, in this case the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition for his unique commitment to our freedom.'
Nobel Foundation Responds
The award-giving body responsible for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Foundation, commented on Machado gifting Trump her medal. In a statement released on Sunday, the Nobel Foundation emphasised that the Nobel Prize cannot be transferred to anyone other than the recipient.
'The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel's will and its stipulations,' said the organisation on X. 'It states that the prizes shall be awarded to those who "have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind" and it specifies who has the right to award each respective prize.'
'A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed,' said the foundation.
Trump has long expressed his desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize. The desire allegedly stems from his predecessor Barack Obama, who was a recipient of the Nobel Prize in 2009, one year into his first term. Trump renewed his push to receive the Nobel Prize in his second term, emphasising that he plans to solve certain international conflicts to receive such an accolade.
