“This is completely unheard of,” said Professor Janne Haaland Matlary of the University of Oslo. She told public broadcaster NRK that giving away the medal showed “a total lack of respect for the award,” describing the act as “meaningless” and “pathetic.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee quickly distanced itself from the move, stressing that Nobel Peace Prizes cannot be transferred, shared or gifted. In a brief statement, the committee said the award belongs solely to the recipient and that no individual has the authority to pass it on.

Machado, a Venezuela n opposition leader and Nobel laureate, said she gave Trump the medal to recognise what she called his “unique commitment” to Venezuela’s political transition. However, she has played no formal role in the country’s leadership since US forces removed President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month while leaving his governing structure largely intact.

Former Oslo mayor Raymond Johansen warned that the episode risked politicising the Nobel Peace Prize and damaging its global credibility. “This is unbelievably embarrassing and harmful to one of the world’s most important prizes,” he wrote on social media .

Trump has long expressed frustration with the Nobel Committee, arguing that his role in ending or managing conflicts during his second term has gone unrecognised. While he accepted the medal, the Norwegian Nobel Committee made clear that the action carries no official meaning and does not constitute recognition by the Nobel institution.

Machado, born in Caracas in 1967, rose to prominence in the early 2000s after co-founding Súmate, an organisation dedicated to monitoring elections and promoting civic participation. She later entered the National Assembly, becoming one of the government’s most vocal critics until she was removed from her seat in 2014 after speaking before the Organisation of American States. Her political influence resurfaced strongly in 2023, when she emerged as the leading voice of a fragmented opposition.

Her Nobel recognition comes after years of disqualification, pressure and threats from the Venezuelan government. Despite being barred from running in the 2024 presidential election, Machado helped rally opposition movements behind a single candidate and continued advocating for peaceful political change. The Nobel Committee emphasised this commitment to civil resistance and democratic engagement as central to her selection.

Internationally, the award has drawn renewed attention to Venezuela’s political trajectory. Several governments and human rights organisations have interpreted the prize as a signal of support for democratic actors within the country, though it does not directly alter the political balance of power. For many observers, the recognition serves as a reminder that Venezuela’s crisis remains unresolved and continues to have implications for regional stability, migration flows and human rights.

Inside Venezuela, reactions have been sharply divided. Supporters see the prize as validation of Machado’s leadership at a time when political organising faces significant restrictions. Government officials, meanwhile, dismissed the award as foreign interference, repeating long-standing accusations that Machado represents external interests.

Although the Nobel Peace Prize does not offer political guarantees, it provides Machado with a higher international profile and a platform that may shape Venezuela’s opposition movement in the coming years. How this visibility translates into political influence will depend on internal dynamics, ongoing negotiations and the government's response in the months ahead.

Takaichi’s decision to nominate Trump was revealed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

During Trump’s visit to Japan, it was clear that, at least in front of the cameras, he and Takaichi met eye to eye on a lot of things. Parallels have been drawn between the two as conservative firebrands and formidable right-wing politicians.

Takaichi herself heaped high praises on Trump, commending his efforts to broker peace in Japan’s Asian neighbours, Thailand and Cambodia, and in Gaza, where a fragile ceasefire was effectively broken when Israel launched another deadly strike on the Strip while Trump was in Tokyo.

"In such a short period of time the world started to enjoy more peace," Takaichi said on Tuesday "I myself was so impressed and inspired by you, Mr. President.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has been relentless in his talk of winning the Nobel, claiming to have ended eight wars — including the “unendable” one in Gaza — an achievement he believes could also bring him to heaven.

According to the White House, seven countries had nominated Trump before Japan: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Gabon, Israel, Pakistan and Rwanda.

The irony in Takaichi’s endorsement is not lost, given that during the Second World War , the United States and Japan were among the fiercest of adversaries — their clashes epitomised by the attack on Pearl Harbor and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Now, under Takaichi, Japan appears to be charting a different course. The country’s first female prime minister has vowed to usher in a “new golden age” in relations with Washington, even as tensions rise in the region amid Chinese provocations.

That goal may not be far-fetched. Trump has already had high praise for Takaichi despite her being only a week into the job, touting her potential to be “one of the greatest prime ministers.”

His comments came shortly after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize . The Norwegian committee said it was honouring her for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights” and her “struggle to achieve a just and peace ful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

Trump has long argued he was unfairly overlooked for the Nobel Peace Prize, pointing to his administration’s role in brokering the Abraham Accords between Israel and several Arab states, and his direct diplomacy with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un .

In the 1960s, during a time when newly independent African nations were investing in education, Wangari was selected for the Kennedy Airlift, a program that sent promising students from East Africa to study in the United States . She left Kenya and enrolled at Mount St. Scholastica College in Kansas, where she studied biology. It was a huge cultural shift, but she thrived.

While in the U.S., she saw something she hadn’t experienced before, large-scale civic movements. The civil rights movement, environmental campaigns, and anti-war protests were all in full swing, and it left an impression.

Wangari returned to Kenya in the late 1960s and earned a PhD from the University of Nairobi, becoming the first woman in East Africa to achieve that milestone.

But the more she saw of her country, the more worried she became. Forests were being cleared at an alarming rate. Rivers were drying up. Soil was eroding. And it was the rural women, women just like the ones she’d grown up around who were feeling it most. They were walking longer distances to find firewood. Their crops were failing. Their families were going hungry.

So in 1977, she started something small. She asked women to plant trees. One by one.

That small idea grew into the Green Belt Movement , a grassroots environmental organization that would go on to plant tens of millions of trees across Kenya.

As her work expanded, she began to challenge the Kenyan government, particularly around issues of land grabbing, deforestation, and corruption. Her protests against illegal developments in public green spaces, like Uhuru Park in Nairobi, made headlines which got her arrested.

In 2002, after years of activism, Wangari was elected to Kenya’s Parliament and later appointed Assistant Minister for the Environment. Two years after that, she received one of the highest honors in the world: the Nobel Peace Prize . She was the first African woman to receive it.

The Nobel Committee praised her for her “holistic approach to sustainable development,” linking environmental conservation with human rights and political freedom. For Wangari, it was never just about the trees. It was about justice, dignity, and giving people the tools to improve their own lives.

Even after receiving the Nobel, she didn’t slow down. She travelled constantly, speaking around the world on climate change, women’s rights, good governance, and peace. She met world leaders and rural farmers with equal respect.

Wangari Maathai passed away in 2011 after a battle with cancer, but her work is far from over. The Green Belt Movement continues.

Wangari once said, “It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.”

"Ms Machado is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy," committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said in a statement. "She has been a key unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided."

Maduro has previously labelled Machado as "toxic," accusing her of conspiring against the country and urging her to "leave Venezuela alone so that it can continue on its path of recovery and prosperity."

The decision sparked political reactions abroad as well. A White House spokesperson criticised the choice, saying the committee had "chosen politics over peace ."

Machado's Nobel Peace Prize win places her among a small number of Latin American figures to receive the honour and is likely to intensify debate over the role of international institutions in Venezuela’s ongoing political crisis.