STOCKHOLM, January 16. /TASS/. Leading political figures in Norway strongly criticized Venezuelan opposition representative Maria Corina Machado for handing over her Nobel medal to US President Donald Trump.

"There is no doubt that the Nobel Peace Prize still belongs to her," the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) quotes the leader of the Christian People's Party, Dag Inge Ulstein. "It was the opposition representative who received the prize, and although Trump now has a physical copy of it, there is no doubt about who the holder is," Ulstein said.

According to the leader of the Centre Party, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, by accepting the medal, Trump is playing the role of a "typical character" who will "adorn himself with others’ awards and exploit the labor" of others. The leader of the Green Party, Arild Hermstad, believes that "Trump is behaving like a mafia boss." "He is extorting the peace prize from a laureate in a desperate situation," the politician said.

University of Oslo political science professor Janne Haaland Matlary, a former State Secretary of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, called Machado’s handing over of the Nobel medal to Trump a shocking fact. "This is complete disrespect for the award on her part <...>, you can’t just give the prize away like that," Matlary believes. "She is showing disrespect to the committee and to the significance of the prize by giving it away as if it were a commodity she can use in negotiations with Trump. He must give her something in return, some position in Venezuela," Matlary added.

Earlier, Machado said she had "presented" her award to Trump, but did not say whether the US leader accepted it.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he considers himself worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. However, on October 10, 2025, the Nobel Committee announced that this year’s prize had been awarded to Maria Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuelan far-right opposition.

The Washington Post reported in early January that Trump had decided not to support Machado politically, because she accepted the prize in 2025 instead of turning it down in Trump’s favor.