Last week, 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado gifted her medal to President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House, saying it was “a recognition of his commitment to her country’s freedom.”
President Trump has long coveted the Nobel Peace Prize, saying back in February 2025, “They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize. It’s too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.” He also mentioned it in a recent letter to Jonas Støre, Prime Minister of Norway, saying, “your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS.”
Numerous prizes have been sold or donated over the years, including James Watson’s 1962 Medical Prize (sold for research funding, though it was later returned to him), Leon Lederman’s 1988 Physics Prize (sold to cover medical bills), and Kofi Annan’s 2001 Peace Prize (donated to the United Nations Office in Geneva, where it is on display).
But the first (and only other) recipient of a gifted medal was in 1943, and was none other than: the Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels. According to the New York Times, Knut Hamsun, the 1920 Nobel Literature Prize winner who “often espoused admiration for Hitler,” mailed it to him.
Over on X (formerly Twitter), folks were in total shock after making the realization. “I couldn’t even fucking believe it until I read it, dude,” said one person.
And finally, this person kind of summed the whole thing up:
Thoughts? Let us know in the comments.