The Norwegian Nobel Committee has issued a clarification on the status of the Nobel Peace Prize amid public debate following a meeting in Washington between the leader of the Venezuelan opposition Maria Corina Machado and the U.S. President, during which she symbolically “presented” him with the Nobel Peace Prize.
Donald Trump later publicly acknowledged the gesture and kept the medal that was handed to him, triggering discussions about whether a Nobel award can be transferred.
In its official statement on Sunday, the committee stressed that the Nobel Peace Prize is inseparably linked to a specific laureate designated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Regardless of what happens to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, the original laureate remains permanently recorded in history as the recipient of the award.
The committee recalled that a Nobel Prize cannot be transferred, shared with others, or revoked once the decision has been officially announced. Any claims about the “reassignment” or “transfer” of the prize to another person, including current or former politicians, have no legal or procedural basis.
"A laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced. A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked. The decision is final and applies for all time," it said.
To clarify its position, the Nobel Committee cited a number of historical examples in which the physical symbols of the prize changed hands while the status of the laureate remained unchanged.
In particular, the widow of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan donated his medal and diploma in 2024 to the United Nations Office in Geneva for permanent display. At the same time, Kofi Annan remains the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2001.
The medal of Norway’s first Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Christian Lous Lange, has been on long-term display at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo since 2005, without affecting his official status as a laureate.
Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, sold his medal in 2022 for 103.5 million U.S. dollars and donated the entire amount to UNICEF to support Ukrainian refugee children. Despite the change in ownership of the medal, the decision to award the prize was not altered.
The committee also emphasized that laureates are free to dispose of their medal, diploma, and prize money, including by giving them away, donating them, or selling them. However, such actions do not provide any grounds for changing or transferring the status of a Nobel laureate.
The 2025 Nobel Prize award ceremony took place on December 10 in Stockholm, marking the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
