Former U.S. President Donald Trump once again turned a global moment into a personal headline, claiming that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado accepted her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize “in his honour.”

During a press briefing on Saturday, 11th October, Trump proudly announced that Machado personally called him after winning the award. He said, “So the person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today and said, ‘I’m accepting this in honour of you because you really deserved it.’ A very nice thing to do. I didn’t say, ‘then give it to me,’ though,” sharing the line with his signature smug laugh — the kind that usually follows a self-written compliment.

He then went on to praise Machado, subtly repositioning himself as her long-time political guardian. “I’ve been helping her along the way. They need a lot of help in Venezuela. It’s a basic disaster,” Trump declared, as if Venezuela’s crisis could have been solved with one of his campaign rallies.

Not stopping there, he reflected on his grand “peace legacy,” reminding the audience — just in case anyone had forgotten — that his presidency had saved the planet. “You could also say it was given out for 24, and I was running for office in 24. But we did so much that they should have done it. I’m happy because I saved millions of lives, many millions of lives,” he added. If Nobel Prizes were awarded for self-praise, Trump would have needed a separate shelf.

Machado recognised for her fight for democracy

Meanwhile, the actual Nobel Committee seemed to have had someone else in mind. The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was officially awarded to María Corina Machado for her relentless efforts to promote democratic rights and a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela.

According to the Committee’s statement, Machado was recognised “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.”

Machado, a long-standing critic of President Nicolás Maduro, has spent years as one of the leading figures of Venezuela’s pro-democracy movement, facing arrests, threats, and exile attempts — all while continuing her fight.

Following the announcement, the White House came rushing to defend Trump’s “peace legacy,” as though someone had accidentally awarded his reflection instead. Spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote on X, “President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives. He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will.” The statement almost made it sound like Trump was less a former president and more a mythological figure — one with an unstoppable Twitter account.

Machado dedicates award to Venezuelans and Trump

In her first public response after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Machado dedicated the honour to “the suffering people of Venezuela” — and, to Trump’s delight, to the former U.S. president himself.

She wrote, “This immense recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is an impetus to conclude our task: to achieve freedom.” She further added, “We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve freedom and democracy.”

Her words offered hope to a nation torn apart by political chaos and humanitarian crisis. Yet, somewhere thousands of miles away, Trump was likely already rehearsing his acceptance speech for the award he never won.

The Nobel Committee itself commended Machado’s extraordinary courage, noting, “In the past year, Ms Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions of people.”

Her defiance in the face of fear contrasted starkly with Trump’s comfort at his golf resort — a reminder that while one woman risked her life for democracy, another man simply risked exaggeration for applause.