WASHINGTON — White House Communications Director Steven Cheung on Sunday demanded the Nobel Foundation at least highlight President Trump’s “unprecedented accomplishments” if he can’t be gifted its peace prize.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado had handed a beaming Trump her 18-carat-gold Nobel Peace Prize medal, which she won last year, during their meeting Thursday.
But the foundation said that officially, “Prizes shall be awarded to those who ‘have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind,’ and it specifies who has the right to award each respective prize.
“A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed.”
Cheung blasted that statement and contended Trump “rightfully deserves the Nobel Peace Prize” for his efforts to end global conflicts around the world.
“Instead of trying to play politics, they should highlight the President’s unprecedented accomplishments,” he sniped on X.
Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize over Trump in October for what the foundation called “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.”
As the winner, she also would have received more than $1 million.
The president has made no secret of his strong desire to win the highly coveted prize.
After Machado won the award, she publicly announced plans to dedicate it to Trump, who had been severely ramping up pressure on Venezuela.
