Trump Credits ‘Very Nice’ Call From Nobel Winner Machado Honoring Him

President Donald Trump told members of the press that he spoke with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado on Oct. 10.

“The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me, and said, ‘I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it,’” Trump said in the Oval Office. “A very nice thing to do.”

He joked about how he didn’t ask her to give him the prize, then shared how nice she was to him.

The president’s comments follow those made by White House communications director Steven Cheung, who was critical of the Nobel Prize decision.

“The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” Cheung said on X.

Machado was a Venezuelan politician who rose to global attention standing in opposition to the current president, Nicolas Maduro. She has been in hiding since January after her failed run for president in 2024. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.”

Many officials in the Trump administration and leaders around the world have advocated for the U.S. president’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize for the work he has done in his second term to end eight armed conflicts.

Speaking with the press in the Oval Office, Trump cited his mediation to end the war between Congo and Rwanda, the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan, and, most recently, the end of the war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

However, the window for nominations opened in mid-October 2024 and closed at midnight on Jan. 31, 2025, which was just a few days into Trump’s second term.

The president acknowledged this to the press, suggesting that he could be awarded it next year for the work done since nominations closed.

“You could also say it was given out for ’24, and I was running for office in ’24, you know,” he said.

“But there are those that say we did so much that they should have done it,” he added. “But I don’t think—I’m happy, because they saved millions of lives, many millions of lives.”

According to the Nobel Foundation, 338 candidates were nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway. Of that total, 244 were individual nominees and 94 were organizations.

Machado will receive her award on Dec. 10 in Oslo, which includes the iconic Nobel medal, as well as a diploma and a document confirming the cash prize amount.

The window for nominations for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize opens this month.

Victoria Freidman and Bill Pan contributed to this report.