Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado, freshly awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, has suggested that US President Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize next year. 

On Friday, the Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded Machado the prize for what it claimed were her efforts to promote democratic rights in Venezuela, a decision already seen by many observers as ideologically driven and aligned with foreign policy interests.

In an interview with The Times, Machado stated, "I do want to say that I believe he does deserve to be recognised. I mean, in only nine months, so many conflicts have been solved or prevented. Especially as we speak, the conflict in the Middle East..."

Her comments come at a time of peak tensions across the world, from West Asia to Latin America, and particularly amid Donald Trump's military threats to Venezuela. Tensions in the Caribbean Sea have spiked after the US authorized unprecedented military deployments near Venezuela. 

Trump revealed that Machado had called him to express her belief that he deserved the award. He emphasized that he “did not ask” for it, though Trump had repeatedly used international recognition narratives to bolster his public image, even in the absence of substantive diplomatic success.

Why Machado's win is controversial

In March 2024, Venezuela's Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, accused Machado of complicity in destabilizing actions against the Venezuelan state following her disqualification from the presidential election in July after being accused of corruption.

It is worth noting that the presidential elections were held in Venezuela on July 28, 2024, to choose a president for a six-year term beginning on January 10, 2025.

According to Saab, the opposition's plot was to incite an anti-state uprising by rallying "the masses using labor and student unions to incentivize a military wing."

Moreover, sharing an interview an Israeli media outlet made with Machado after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, RT highlighted how she "promised" unwavering support for "Israel" and to move the country's embassy to al-Quds, despite the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

🕊 FLASHBACK to 2018: Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado inks letter to Netanyahu asking for 'influence and strength' toward REGIME CHANGE in Venezuela

Later, she 'PROMISED' unwavering support for Israel and to move embassy to Jerusalem

A truly worthy recipient https://t.co/ay07IFSvkB pic.twitter.com/9juxj1rgi2

— RT (@RT_com) October 10, 2025

Further exposing cooperation between the two, RT took its audience back to 2018, exposing Machado's letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking for his help, as well as "influence and strength" toward regime change in Venezuela.

The Russian news outlet mocked how she is "a truly worthy recipient."

2025 Nobel Prize Winner Maria Corina Machado once wrote to Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him for help to overthrow Venezuela’s🇻🇪 President Nicolas Maduro

In 2025 you get a Nobel Prize for trying to convince a foreign genocidal apartheid state to attack your… https://t.co/pPhA23YXLo pic.twitter.com/xYOh2tKebH

— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) October 10, 2025