Norway Stunned After Machado Gifts Nobel Peace Prize Medal to Trump

[u/bloomberg]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-16/norway-stunned-after-venezuela-s-machado-gifts-nobel-peace-prize-medal-to-trump

[u/bloomberg]

From Bloomberg News reporters Ott Ummelas and Heidi Taksdal Skjeseth:

A sense of disbelief gripped Norwegian media and expert community following news that Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado gave her award medal to US President Donald Trump, who had been hankering after the accolade.

“That’s completely unheard of,” Janne Haaland Matlary, a professor with the University of Oslo and a former politician, told public broadcaster NRK. “It’s a total lack of respect for the award, on her part,” she said, calling the act “meaningless” and “pathetic.”

Trump, who has long coveted the peace prize and claims to deserve it for having resolved numerous wars during his second term, accepted the medal from the Venezuelan opposition leader at a White House meeting on Thursday. He has earlier expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

[u/spooooork → u/bloomberg]

“That’s completely unheard of,”

Not completely unheard of among Nobel prizes. Knut Hamsun gave away his Nobel Prize for litterature – to Joseph Goebbels...

[u/Meistermagier → u/spooooork]

Ouch thats realy not a line of people you want to stand in.

[u/yedi001 → u/Meistermagier]

Pretty sure the line is more of a goose step.

Or at least it would be, but I don't think Trump could get his leg up enough to clear a 6" curb. Bonespurs and all that.

[u/CartographerAlone632 → u/yedi001]

Diapers restrict mobility also

[u/Matt7738 → u/Meistermagier]

Oh, it’s a line Trump would shove his mother aside to stand in. He’s not exactly a big reader, but he had a copy of Mein Kampf next to his bed.

[u/BaaBaaTurtle → u/spooooork]

And James Watson sold his

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30346903

[u/Germanofthebored → u/BaaBaaTurtle]

The guy who bought it promptly returned it to Watson, if I recall correctly.

[u/silicon1 → u/Germanofthebored]

Weird way of money laundering.

[u/Adsex → u/spooooork]

The man is genuinely a fantastic author and in his youth was borderline anarchist. I unapologetically admire his work. At the same time, I condemn without a single hesitation what he stood for.

As far as the Nobel committee is concerned... fucked around, find out. Don't reward a fascist, next time ?

[u/flonnkenn → u/bloomberg]

Shouldn't have given it to her in the first place. Always seemed like an odd choice.

[u/IntoTheCommonestAsh → u/flonnkenn]

Give award to the one of the world's biggest non-american trump fan who's been asking him to attack Venezuela for months.

She gives the award to trump in exchange of more attacks in venezuela.

Suprised pikachu

[u/bacan_ → u/IntoTheCommonestAsh]

Between that, Kissinger, and the Obama one, the award seems kind of like a joke. I think Obama was one of our best presidents, but he didn't deserve that prize just cause he ran an inspiring campaign. Kissinger .. self explanatory.

[u/Vimes-NW → u/bacan_]

Obama one was a head scratcher for sure, which is when I realized all this is just a bullshit simulation we're living in

Ftr - I'm a registered dem

[u/whythishaptome → u/Vimes-NW]

Even Obama was confused as to why he got it.

[u/Excelius → u/whythishaptome]

Even his Nobel acceptance speech was basically like "I don't deserve this".

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2009/obama/lecture/

I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations – that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.

And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who’ve received this prize – Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela – my accomplishments are slight. And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering; the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened cynics. I cannot argue with those who find these men and women – some known, some obscure to all but those they help – to be far more deserving of this honor than I.

But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by 42 other countries – including Norway – in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.

Still, we are at war, and I’m responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill, and some will be killed. And so I come here with an acute sense of the costs of armed conflict – filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other.

[u/IrritableGourmet → u/Excelius]

I really miss his speeches. I still reread his keynote at the DNC on occasion.

[u/Djuulzor → u/IrritableGourmet]

It's not very often anymore that you hear a speech written by a literate person for other literate people

[u/goosechaser → u/Excelius]

Say what you will, the man knew how to give a goddamn speech.

[u/Even_Tangerine_4201 → u/whythishaptome]

Yeah his acceptance speech boiled down to “I hope in the future I can do something to retroactively deserve this.”

Remember when US leaders were at least familiar with the concept of humility?

[u/Jottor → u/whythishaptome]

Yeah, can't really hold that against him - Not his fault the committee just gave it to him for no apparent reason.

[u/agb2022 → u/Jottor]

And he also used his acceptance speech to highlight that he was not deserving of the Prize.

[u/whisker_biscuit → u/IntoTheCommonestAsh]

She gave the award to Trump hoping it will get the US to install her as dictator of Venezuela

[u/mushinmind → u/whisker_biscuit]

That’s a power peace move!

[u/BigBoyYuyuh → u/whisker_biscuit]

And it won’t work. Someone that pathetic and weak shouldn’t lead a country. Second, he still won’t do it. He got what he wanted so he doesn’t care now.

[u/fishnoguns → u/BigBoyYuyuh]

Yep. Look at Trump's interaction with Mamdani. Trump likes winners (bizarrely) and this is a total loser move by her.

[u/floghdraki → u/fishnoguns]

Trump is transactional and he respects the game. Yet in a desperate move Machado gave away her only bargaining chip for nothing. What a sucker. Now she has literally nothing to offer.

This also underlines how the Peace prize is a joke. The award committee has history of weak and pathetic political choices and missing out on real deals like famously Gandhi.

[u/everythingbeeps → u/BigBoyYuyuh]

People that pathetic and weak actually routinely lead countries.

[u/BigBoyYuyuh → u/everythingbeeps]

looks at America

God damn it 😞

[u/Snerak → u/BigBoyYuyuh]

As pathetic and weak as it was of her to give Trump her award, Trump is still more pathetic and weak than her and he (God help us) leads this country.

[u/EconomyDoctor3287 → u/IntoTheCommonestAsh]

Trump said that she could run Venezuela, if she gives him her peace price. 

It's straight up bribery on her part. 

[u/Chidoribraindev → u/IntoTheCommonestAsh]

She also said she would do exactly this. The Nobel committee played chicken and now their peace prize has lost what little credibility it still had.

[u/Kichigai → u/Chidoribraindev]

The Nobel committee has been extremely clear that the title of Nobel Laureate is non-transferable, so she basically taped a banana on his wall, but can't give him the certificate of authenticity. It's like buying a Super Bowl ring, it doesn't confer upon you the accomplishment of winning the Super Bowl.

[u/spezial_ed → u/flonnkenn]

The committee has made some questionable choices, giving it to Obama was another weird one - even he was stunned. Pretty sure it was just cause the committee wanted to meet him. Come to think of it, that's prob the moment that got us here in the first place, ouch,.

[u/Consistent_Horse6529 → u/spezial_ed]

They gave it to Henry Kissinger.

[u/spezial_ed → u/Consistent_Horse6529]

Oooooooof, forgot about that one. When Kissinger died and I was grinning loudly, my former boss refused to hear that he sucked ass because he had gotten the peace prize after all.

[u/SnuggleBunni69 → u/spezial_ed]

The fact that Kissinger lived so long is proof there is no god.

[u/RaVashaan → u/spezial_ed]

A lot of people are surprised to hear that Kissinger was a bad person. My elderly mom, who lived through his tenure in the US government as an adult fully aware of politics, was shocked when I said he was a terrible person and demanded to know what exactly he did that made him bad.

And she was a liberal, master's degree educated New Yorker.

[u/FullMooseParty → u/RaVashaan]

I got my mother to listen to the six-part behind the bastards on Kissinger.

[u/skatastic57 → u/Consistent_Horse6529]

Surely the individuals that made that choice have retired and it was a different bunch for Obama?

[u/DerLuk → u/spezial_ed]

Kissinger and Arafat got it. The peace price has always been meaningless.

[u/Infamous-Mixture-605 → u/DerLuk]

At least provide a bit of context...

Kissinger shared the award with Le Duc Tho for negotiating the Paris Peace Accords and the ceasefire that led to the US withdrawal from Vietnam. Kissinger was bad for a whole bunch of other reasons, and that ceasefire collapsed rather quickly afterwards (for which Le Duc Tho refused to accept the award), but they won it for the Paris Peaces Accords.

Similarly, Yasser Arafat didn't win it alone. He shared it with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, and was in recognition of their efforts to create peace by negotiating the Oslo Accords (which were pretty groundbreaking at the time, before all going to shit). The failure of the accords due to violence (Hamas bombings, Rabin's murder and the Cave of the Patriarchs Massacre by Israeli zealots, etc), unresolved issues/details the Accords didn't hammer out, and Bibi getting elected PM (who opposed the Accords and egged on anti-Rabin nutters), etc is kind of a separate issue.

[u/Interesting-Net-7232 → u/spezial_ed]

giving it to Obama was another weird one

I always interpreted that as the European left/center trying to congratulate Americans for not voting in another republican.

Very awkward, and the excuse was it was to encourage him to do things for peace or something like that.

[u/bobqjones → u/Interesting-Net-7232]

he won it for being Not George Bush

[u/obeytheturtles → u/bobqjones]

A lot of people don't understand that giving the award to Obama was basically supposed to be awarding the American voters for hopefully turning the corner on the former neoconservative nightmare which had been the Bush Administration. It was literally meant to be an olive branch welcoming the US back into the good graces of the international community, with the hope that it would represent a new era of cooperation between the US and Europe which extended beyond just those old foundations of liberal democracy, and embraced a new progressive global consensus on things like human rights and humanitarian cooperation.

[u/BonerPorn → u/flonnkenn]

They legitimately may have caused a war by awarding a Peace Prize. Incredibly bad choice

[u/Honduran → u/bloomberg]

Honestly it’s on them for even giving it to her. Morons.

[u/luckyknight216]

Now Trump will start collecting people's Nobel Peace Prizes like they're Infinity Stones.

[u/Zealousideal-Yak3845 → u/luckyknight216]

What happens when he collects six?

[u/luckyknight216 → u/Zealousideal-Yak3845]

By then I think WWIII would already be underway due to all the world leaders he will inevitably kidnap to get his Peace Awards.

[u/Timorim → u/Zealousideal-Yak3845]

He'll snap his fingers, but the Epstein files will still be there

[u/Velorian → u/luckyknight216]

No now he needs one of every type of nobel prize

Physics

Chemistry

Medicine

Economics

Literature

and peace would make 6

[u/eeyore134 → u/luckyknight216]

He's always done this. Some stupid old man gave him his purple heart the first go around.

[u/Squeezy_Lemon]

I can’t even recall a movie that depicts events more comical than what is happening with the US administration right now.

[u/nondesirableeffect → u/Squeezy_Lemon]

Imagine history books in 100 years.

[u/Budpets → u/nondesirableeffect]

I feel bad for satirical news websites, how can you possibly compete with this bat shittery

[u/darkwoodframe → u/Budpets]

My dad asks me to send him Onion articles without context every once in a while to see if he's still sharp lol

[u/ekobres → u/darkwoodframe]

How is The Onion even able to carry on these days? Satire seems tame compared the absurdity and irony of reality lately.

[u/DaEnderAssassin → u/ekobres]

They transitions to reporting on events before they happened.

They even managed to tell people about the redacted epstien files in 2005

[u/SuperBry → u/DaEnderAssassin]

They are the modern day Cassandra; forced to predict futures that no one will believe.

[u/UGMadness → u/SuperBry]

These two articles are literally days apart:

https://theonion.com/ice-agents-wait-at-edge-of-delivery-table-to-deport-newborn/

https://www.newsweek.com/new-mother-faces-deportation-after-border-agents-deployed-maternity-ward-2068504

Yes, the Onion article came first.

[u/siderinc → u/DaEnderAssassin]

Only the current administration can't highlight properly, ink must be running low or something.

[u/rainiswet → u/darkwoodframe]

That’s a cool Dad! Respect!

[u/ofork → u/Budpets]

I feel good for snopes though.. they must be doing numbers like no one has ever seen before, the biggest numbers.

[u/XenMonkey → u/ofork]

And they we're crying, can you believe that? They came to me tears in their eyes and said "Mr. President, our numbers are so great thanks to your incredible leadership!"

[u/iamarealhuman4real → u/XenMonkey]

incredible leadership!

Rating:
🛑 Fake

[u/solarview → u/iamarealhuman4real]

Well, to be fair, it is ‘incredible’ in terms of being staggeringly unbelievable to any rational person…

[u/ClimateCrashVoyager → u/Budpets]

Release a statement, that in regard to Trump they'll report as a regular news outlet since he took over the satire part.

And then stick to it.

[u/GhettoFreshness → u/ClimateCrashVoyager]

I like this!

Imagine if the Onion became the only real uninfluenced and unbiased source of news… only in this timeline

[u/Ryanlew1980 → u/nondesirableeffect]

Kids are going to fail the test on this era because even they will be like, “nah that can’t be right.”

[u/AndHeShallBeLevon → u/Ryanlew1980]

Totally - can you imagine the multiple choice options?

[u/BuildingArmor → u/AndHeShallBeLevon]

"well option A is too ridiculous to be real, so the right answer must be this one about a horse becoming King of Denmark for 20 years"

[u/Nobody_Super_Famous → u/BuildingArmor]

"A common trick question. Though similar in appearance and intelligence, Marco Rubio was not, in fact, a horse."

[u/The_Vat → u/BuildingArmor]

"Ah, that's a trick question, that horse abdicated after 19 years to go frolic in a field"

[u/GrimpenMar → u/Ryanlew1980]

The alt-history conspiracy theories will be so… I don't even know.

[u/WarmerPharmer → u/Ryanlew1980]

Every page with a disclaimer "yes, it really was this stupid."

[u/MeIIowJeIIo → u/Ryanlew1980]

Or future Jeopardy.

This inaugural“Peace Prize” was awarded in 2026?

Bzzz

What is FIFA?

[u/TransiTorri → u/Ryanlew1980]

"So they knew he had a history of sexual abuse, he admitted it on camera, he was known to be in the Epstein Files, and they *STILL* reelected him after an insurrection?!

[u/vocal-avocado → u/nondesirableeffect]

There won’t be any.

[u/DrKlitface → u/nondesirableeffect]

It will be mandatory to play Benny hill when reading about this period

[u/bolanrox → u/DrKlitface]

Yakity sax is the name of the song and it's on YouTube and Spotify for your listening pleasure.

[u/Eikfo → u/Squeezy_Lemon]

Welp, satire is dead. Whatever you try to imagine will be news tomorrow.

[u/bigwilly311 → u/Eikfo]

Do you know who Noah Hawley is? He is the showrunner behind Fargo, Legion, and more recently Alien: Earth.

He wrote a book a few years ago called Anthem (it’s fantastic) and on a podcast someone asked what inspired him the book and this is what he said:

Satire used to be humor that produced shame, and shame that produced change, but there is no shame anymore.

[u/gregorydgraham → u/bigwilly311]

Trump would definitely implement A Modest Proposal

[u/Coffee_And_Bikes → u/gregorydgraham]

Except he’d call it the Big Beautiful Proposal.

[u/Master_Trust_636 → u/Eikfo]

The comitee should take the price back and give it to someone else. She obvusly doesnt want it. 

[u/nailbunny2000 → u/Master_Trust_636]

As others have pointed out already that they cant, but it wouldnt matter anyways.

Trump doesnt appreciate that the honor of the award is it being bestowed on you, he just wants the award itself. You know full well this is going to be hung up in the White House as though it was rightfully earned, even if the committee gave out another one to someone else and disavowed this one. He will cross out her name with his little marker and write in his (hopefully just metaphoricallly...), like when Homer Simpson crossed out Ned Flanders name on his unviersity diploma.

[u/JimboTCB → u/nailbunny2000]

It's about as meaningful as all the golf trophies he's won at his club where he asks what the winning score was after the event which he didn't compete in and says "oh, I did better than that last week, put that down as my score, I'm the winner"

[u/Gh0sth4nd → u/Master_Trust_636]

Unfortunately they can't they stated that themself. Only because she does not follow the rules doesn't mean they should abandon them.

But i do hope this leads to a more careful consideration who gets it next.

[u/ClimateCrashVoyager → u/Master_Trust_636]

They can't. Nor can she transfer the price prize. Once awarded it's final

Trump now has the medal, but he definetely isn't considered the holder of the award. It still is her and it will always stay that way. The comitee has their rules and that's the only thing that counts.

Of course Trump doesn't give a fuck, he now sees himself as the award winner.

[u/queen-adreena → u/ClimateCrashVoyager]

Exactly... you can go on eBay and buy an Olympic gold medal (maybe)... doesn't mean you can run the 100m in under 10 seconds.

[u/PsychoSCV → u/queen-adreena]

I used to suck at sports until I realized you can just buy trophies, now I'm the best at everything

[u/garf02 → u/queen-adreena]

you CAN buy NFL Championship Rings

[u/Lev_Kovacs → u/Master_Trust_636]

The real funny thing isnt that Machado doesnt want the price, but that she uses the fucking Nobel Peace Price as a bribe to get an authoritarian president of a country with a ling history of bloody coups to invade her country.

Its satire on a level that can only be written by life itself.

[u/Training-Farmer8476 → u/Master_Trust_636]

I don't think they can. Once awarded, it's irrevocable

[u/TheDallbatross → u/Training-Farmer8476]

Irrevocable, and non-shareable, and non-transferable.

That last one is very key: non-transferable.

Machado may have given Trump a Nobel-Medal-shaped piece of gold, but she cannot transfer the merit, honor, or meaning of the award itself. It's no more a Nobel Peace Prize in his hands than that plaque "Tim Apple" tried to buy his favor with is.

All he'll ever have is another shiny piece of metal and all she'll ever have is the shame and failure of having pissed it away to a man who is only interested in using it - and her - as another political prop.

[u/Philhughes_85 → u/TheDallbatross]

Just like the FIFA ‘Peace Prize’ he bought ‘won’

[u/Prize-Temporary4159 → u/Philhughes_85]

Remember that time he bestowed an inaugural prize for peace upon himself? Yea… that was fucked

[u/onarainyafternoon → u/TheDallbatross]

Trump doesn't understand the difference between the merit and honor of an award, and the physical award himself. It's why he was so happy when a veteran gifted a purple heart to him. He doesn't understand there's a difference between earning that purple heart, and simply having the physical medal.

[u/Important-Ear-9096 → u/Squeezy_Lemon]

Idiocracy made me laugh. Current events make me want to cry.

[u/UnexpectedAnomaly → u/Squeezy_Lemon]

If Tom Clancy back in the '90s had written a book about a game show celebrity becoming president and starting a fascist revolution he would have been laughed out of literature.

[u/veevoir → u/UnexpectedAnomaly]

It's already the funniest shit reading Clancy, seeing shows like West Wing (or any Aaron Sorkin show). Or even House of Cards.

The fact that people used to truly believe in hypercompetence of the people in power in USA.

[u/BlueSonjo → u/veevoir]

West Wing with those eloquent, deep, considerate, strategic and philosophical politicians on both sides of the aisle is flat out fantasy story now. And adaptation of Harry Potter set in White House would be about same level of realism for current situation.

[u/EstablishmentRude309 → u/BlueSonjo]

An adaptation of Harry Potter set in White House would be about same level of realism for current situation.

To be honest no. Even Voldemort in office wouldn't be as bad as the current shit-show.

[u/obsterwankenobster → u/EstablishmentRude309]

Voldemort was destitute, got into the best school on his own prowess, rose to the highest level of skill, never stopped working to achieve his goals. Do not compare him to Trump; Voldemort had to work hard to gain his racist following

[u/TheSecondEikonOfFire → u/obsterwankenobster]

Only thing I disagree with is “got into the best school on his own prowess” - he was automatically allowed into Hogwarts due to being able to use magic. How skilled he was with it as a boy had no bearing on him getting in

[u/lostatsea_again → u/BlueSonjo]

It was fantasy then, as well. That period had evil politicians running things on both sides of the aisle. Many of them seemed ‘nice’, though. 

[u/Evening-Run-3794 → u/lostatsea_again]

I thought the show did a pretty decent job showing that they were all pretty arrogant and convinced of their own greatness and that it blew up in their face from time to time.

But there was a baseline of decorum and respect and at least maintaining the appearances of proper social behavior that existed in real life then. I still remember being so shocked that Joe Wilson yelled at Obama during that state of the union and faced no repercussions from it. That was the beginning of the end.

[u/littledog95 → u/veevoir]

I recently read the Hunt for the Red October for the first time and that really stood out to me - just how hyper competent everyone is in it. What I've seen recently has really made that impossible to believe.

[u/THAWED21 → u/littledog95]

We used to have subject matter experts spend months, even years, producing executive briefings. It was part of the technocracy that this administration dismantled.

[u/Sommern → u/THAWED21]

I don’t think people remember that before the Reagan Administration, being a “G Man” or “Government Man” was one of the highest prestige positions of employment in the United States. It was not just about pay or benefits. And because of that prestige there existed a genuine meritocratic system where only the smartest and brightest got in. Were they supermen? By no means. McNamara’s “brain trust” of college men may have been very smart, but made catastrophic decisions in places like Vietnam. 

But compared to now? Reagan made being a G Man embarrassing, shameful. The prestige went entirely to private sector firms. 

[u/Not_Legal_Advice_Pod → u/veevoir]

It isn't so much that those shows were wrong, it's that science and communications has advanced to a point where we started to get definitive answers to political questions and voters didn't like the answers.  So a whole breed of politicians arose who lied to voters who didn't want to hear the truth.  At first those politicians understood they were lying and were trying to massage voters and reality into some kind of alignment.  But eventually voters figured out they were being tricked by these people and started to vote in true believers (incompetent idiots).  

This whole thing right now is a direct response to there not being a politically acceptable way to deal with the National debt, a change in economic realities as we transition from a manufacturing economy, and social changes around women's rights, anti-racism, and sexual freedoms.  

And that's rolled into a completely ineffective political system that can no longer effectively handle any problems.  Just look at this ICE business.  You can't say that the government isn't trying with all its might to deal with illegal immigration...  But in 20 years from now anyone with a brain can see that we'll be right back to where we were (subject to fundamental economic forces changing the dynamic), with a whole bunch of really ugly baggage saddled to us because of what's happening today.

[u/According-Moment111 → u/Not_Legal_Advice_Pod]

we started to get definitive answers to political questions and voters didn't like the answers

I'm not saying you are wrong or challenging you, I'm just curious if you could elaborate about the definitive answers bit?

[u/Not_Legal_Advice_Pod → u/According-Moment111]

We know the most efficient blend of taxes and rates for example.  (At least within a narrow band of error).  The recent Trump tax cuts are foolish economically and there isn't any real debate about that.  

We know a lot about environmental Science and climate change and for that matter solar power production and most of what's your hearing from Republicans on those topics is just completely wrong.  Again where you can have some honest discussions is around planning and transition.  But you can't really argue that we should be building coal plant capacity up.  

[u/Malt_The_Magpie → u/veevoir]

So many films sound stupid now! As soon as you have the American president giving a speech about doing what’s right for all the people, you just have to laugh

[u/vincentvangobot → u/veevoir]

Veep is probably the most accurate show about politics.

[u/Unfair → u/UnexpectedAnomaly]

“The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” -- Tom Clancy

[u/Belfunk → u/UnexpectedAnomaly]

If Clancy were alive today he would be a conductor on the Trump train.

[u/Guilty_Psychology_28 → u/Squeezy_Lemon]

I have never been extremely pro-USA, but I was proud of my country and generally thought we tried to make the world a better place, despite our many faults. I served in the military. Even the first term of Trump, though embarrassing, wasn't that bad and could have been a temporary stain on our history.

Now though? This place has eternally become a joke. I am ashamed and don't recognize this country anymore. We will never recover from this, the country will go down in history as an empire that buckled under the stupidity of its own citizens.

[u/BoldThrow → u/Guilty_Psychology_28]

This second administration is being run by far more competent people (behind the scenes) than the first administration. They have their goals (the overthrow of democracy and the establishment of a totalitarian state) and it looks like they are well on their way to achieving them.

[u/sylfy → u/BoldThrow]

People act like Trump is the one to blame, but this has long been a stated goal of the Republican Party. Trump is just the figurehead so that they can wipe the slate with a new baseline of authoritarianism when he is out of power, and their SCOTUS lackeys will ensure that it stays that way for the foreseeable future.

[u/Devchonachko → u/sylfy]

Agree. Trump wanted to be President, go down in history, and make bank. In return he is expected to take the heat, take the abuse, and stay on script. Miller is the real CEO running the corporation of cunts, let's face it.

[u/airduster_9000 → u/Squeezy_Lemon]

Republicans needs a childish consolation price. They don't have the mental strength to realize it makes them look like pathetic needy losers

[u/Wiskersthefif → u/Squeezy_Lemon]

So, I enjoy creative writing and... yeah, not long ago you'd be labeled as someone who "has no idea how the world works" if you were to write a non-satire story featuring story beats as INSANE as what's been going on in his admin.

[u/The_Frostweaver]

Sacha Baron Cohen needs to make The Dictator 2, a Bigger Dick

[u/Zaethiel → u/The_Frostweaver]

Idk if he can compete with how absurd Trump is.

[u/Area51_Spurs → u/Zaethiel]

The crazy thing is the wildest scene in any Borat movie was 10000% genuine and real…

As someone who was in college when the planes hit the towers and remembers the months that followed…

Giuliani on that bed is one of the most jaw-dropping things I’ve ever seen in a film.

Watching him absolutely light his legacy on fire over the nearly 20 years between 9/11 and laying down on that bed will always be one of the single wildest downfalls in American history.

He was obv a buffoon before 9/11 too, but all of that was completely forgotten and all anyone remembered was him as “America’s Mayor.”

All his ridiculous bullshit would have been just a footnote to his response to 9/11 and when he died nobody would have mentioned any of it.

Then he just spent the rest of his life absolutely torching every last ounce of respect any decent human being had for him.

Absolutely wild stuff.

[u/SupraCollider → u/Area51_Spurs]

And yet reality said “hold my beer” and followed up with the Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference

[u/Area51_Spurs → u/SupraCollider]

He was credited with cleaning up NYC before 9/11, though it actually started well before he became mayor, with Dinkins and was probably largely a result of an economic boom and the surge in hiring of thousands of police officers initiated by Dinkins and nationwide decrease in crime.

Then he basically just managed to be present and not fall on his face in the aftermath of 9/11.

He benefited greatly from being in the right place at the right time and having a lot of rich and powerful people backing him and putting out a lot of favorable media coverage.

Dinkins ended up a punchline even though he really was responsible for a lot of the things Giuliani got credit for. And the media glossed over a lot of abuses by Giuliani and Bratton’s goons and the truth was even the liberal population of New York didn’t care how it was done they just wanted the place cleaned up.

[u/imo9 → u/Zaethiel]

I'm pretty sure Sacha Baron Cohen is chain smoking in a dmv parking lot mumbling "satire is dead, I'm out".....

[u/Bored2001 → u/The_Frostweaver]

Dictator 2: Mushroom dick and the underaged children

would be more on theme.

[u/AlfaMenel]

We live in the real world South Park episode.

[u/RexBulby → u/AlfaMenel]

Craig: Just give him the medal. Be grateful he’s only asking for the medal.

Kyle: But he doesn’t deserve the medal.

Craig: And if I had wheels, I’d be a wagon.

[u/LetsLearnYouZhongWen → u/AlfaMenel]

We all died in 2019 and are in hell or purgatory. 

[u/InconspicuousMagpie → u/LetsLearnYouZhongWen]

I’ve been dead since 2016

[u/SaltpeterSal → u/AlfaMenel]

People can say what they like about South Park, it's peak satire to imitate life and then have everyone think life is imitating you.

[u/seguefarer]

Shouldn't that read "Entire world cringes in secondhand embarrassment..."

[u/EarthAndAlgorithms]

Peace prize should be a posthumous award.

[u/tbsnipe → u/EarthAndAlgorithms]

Don't know about that, but it should be given for actual accomplishments not just acknowledgement of a struggle (i.e. when given to opposition figures).

[u/superurgentcatbox → u/tbsnipe]

Especially since just because you're opposed to Bad Thing A doesn't mean you aren't just Bad Thing B.

[u/Agile_Purchase911 → u/EarthAndAlgorithms]

Well, it gives you a million euro. Even if the prestige of the title is more important now than the money, the prize only became the most prestigious prize in the world because the monetary reward made it special. Also the money can help the winners in their award-winning activities or just reward them by giving them a financially carefree life. I love that aspect of it.

Sure there is a risk of them turning bad after receiving the prize, but there is also value at just recognising someone's world changing positive achievement, even if they are otherwise flawed people.

I just wish they would stop giving it to people before they actually achieve anything. And Machado didn't seem much for peace at all, even at the moment she received it.

[u/gpowerf → u/EarthAndAlgorithms]

100%. Prove that you will not denigrate yourself before an award is granted. In fact, several steps should be taken. Invalidate María Corina’s award, ensure that she goes down in history as the only person to ever have the prize revoked, announce that no Venezuelan or American will be eligible for a Nobel Prize for the next five years, and change the rules so that the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded only posthumously from now on. Venezuelans from both sides of the political spectrum should share that eternal shame.

[u/inotparanoid → u/gpowerf]

Well, at least Gandhi will be eligible once more

[u/BFG_TimtheCaptain → u/inotparanoid]

He drops more nukes than anyone else, though.

[u/_throawayplop_ → u/EarthAndAlgorithms]

The point of the Nobel is to be given to a living person

[u/TheFireNationAttakt → u/_throawayplop_]

Exactly - it comes with money and the point is that the recipient uses it to further whatever it was that earned them the prize to begin with.

[u/ultrasneeze → u/EarthAndAlgorithms]

Or, like the science-focused prizes, awarded for specific past actions and discoveries that are objectively seen as great contributions, instead of having the prize be a commentary on current affairs.

[u/salinungatha]

As a Nobel peace prize winner (2012), and a Time Person of the Year (2006), I am deeply upset as I think this cheapens the FIFA peace prize that I'm hoping for.

[u/NerdManual → u/salinungatha]

As a fellow recipient, I concur. I believe our agreement proves how peaceable we are, and we should also be awarded the Phillip-Morris peace prize when that comes out.

[u/Zwatrem → u/NerdManual]

Phillip-Morris healthcare prize

[u/indiscretus]

As a Norwegian I'm not stunned nor are any of my fellow country men I've spoken to about this.

The prize has nothing to do with the Norwegian people, we do not get to vote on who wins or who the members of the committee should be.

The prize is a sham and has been that way for as long as I've lived.

[u/Leege13 → u/indiscretus]

I figured it was the case at least since Kissinger won it.

[u/PracticalShoulder916]

Most embarrassing president in the history of the US.

[u/VerasEros → u/PracticalShoulder916]

We are so far past embarrasing, it is not even funny.

[u/Veginite → u/VerasEros]

I don't even think there's a word able to describe the situation. 'Disgraceful' is far from sufficient.

[u/eeyore134 → u/PracticalShoulder916]

Obama was actually given the award and said when he received it that he wasn't sure he deserved it. Trump wasn't even considered and yells about deserving everyone else's.

[u/ehs5 → u/eeyore134]

I’m Norwegian and it was embarrassing when Obama got it. And I like Obama. The Nobel committee should just pack it up at this point, it provides my country a lot of embarrassment and not much else.

[u/EstablishmentRude309 → u/ehs5]

I think the Nobel prizes get way too much clout for how subjective (and often outright biased) they can be. The concept of them hasn't kept up with actual science either. Each science category has a maximum of three recipients for a piece of work, which completely ignores the fact that every major scientific breakthrough for decades has been a massive collaborative effort.

[u/nimbutimbu]

If they had made a movie with this plot, it would have attracted protests as being demeaning to the US and it's president.

[u/MrBoomf → u/nimbutimbu]

Even President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho wasn’t this fucking dumb

[u/Hellhooker → u/MrBoomf]

to be fair, no way today's USA vote for someone THAT black

[u/Copper_Wasp → u/Hellhooker]

*competent

[u/ESCF1F2F3F4F3F2F1ESC]

The diplomatic equivalent of jangling your keys in front of a toddler

[u/Shot_Independence274]

dude! i keep saying this!

Pay attention, Denmark and Greenland!

Want to permanently get the orange baboon off your case?

name trumpty dumpty some silly made up title like "Supreme Protector and Peace bringer to Greenland" or "the one true king of the north, realm protector, lord of Greenland, great Viking warrior and peace bringer"...

Then you give him one of those princess crowns from kids' stores, and a diploma made in MS Word,

[u/bestestopinion → u/Shot_Independence274]

actually i think that might actually work

[u/jews4beer → u/bestestopinion]

It's insane how plausible it is...

[u/JamesMcC2 → u/jews4beer]

He really is a toddler in a decrepit old man's body.

[u/BadMuthaSchmucka → u/bestestopinion]

Years ago I saw a post about how we should give Trump the title King to get them off everyone's back lol

[u/ezagreb]

I can’t think of anyone who deserves the peace prize less than President Trump

[u/gramoun-kal → u/ezagreb]

IDK, Vladimir Putin?

[u/BlackFoxyTrail → u/gramoun-kal]

Netnyahu ?

[u/Fortestingporpoises → u/gramoun-kal]

Wait a year.

[u/Dragonfly_pin → u/ezagreb]

Hitler, who was always holding ‘Peace Rallies’ until he had to cancel his last peace rally event in 1939 for… reasons.

[u/Consistent_Horse6529 → u/ezagreb]

They gave one to Henry Kissinger.

[u/Chedwall → u/ezagreb]

Would say Putin makes trump 2nd

[u/Tall-Warning3135]

She debased herself. At least maybe he'll shut up about it now.

[u/Leege13 → u/Tall-Warning3135]

He’ll never stop boasting about it until the circuits in his brain finally finish frying.

[u/CheesecakeHorror3410]

Banana. Republic.

[u/adyrip1]

This is an excellent proof of character about this lady. She is desperate to end up in his good graces, maybe, just maybe he will put her in charge of Venezuela. Makes you wonder if she actually deserved this prize in the first place.

[u/Soft_Impression → u/adyrip1]

He already said he thinks that Machado is not suitable to be put in charge.

[u/DickRhino → u/Soft_Impression]

He said that because he was trying to extort her into giving him her Nobel prize.

It worked.

But she's monumentally stupid if she thinks she'll get anything in return for it. With Trump you have to get paid in advance, because he will always try to stiff the bill if he can. She just gave up the only leverage she had, and she'll get nothing to show for it.

[u/GCU_ZeroCredibility → u/Soft_Impression]

She utterly debased herself for Trump and got nothing in return except humiliation.

Pathetic.

[u/c08306834 → u/GCU_ZeroCredibility]

She utterly debased herself for Trump and got nothing in return except humiliation.

Isn't that basically the same story for most of Trump's inner circle?

[u/DoggedStooge → u/Soft_Impression]

As if Trump never fip-flops. I don't doubt she and her allies know he'll have a change of heart as soon as he gets a big enough bribe. Giving him the peace prize was just the first volley. The rest probably won't be so public.

[u/english_gritts → u/Soft_Impression]

Maybe he was just saying that to further pressure her into giving him the medal? Who knows with this dick.

[u/Yoruichi90]

What the fuck is this timeline, what is going on?

[u/a_norwegian_rat]

There was one other person that gave away his |Nobel| prize (editet "peace". My bad). Knut Hamsun gave his away to Joseph Goebbels. So Trump is on that list now as well.
And it means nothing that she gave her prize away to Trump, it would be like if someone gave me one of their olympic medals. Does not mean i won one.

[u/Argonyon → u/a_norwegian_rat]

Hamsun didn’t get the peace prize! He got it for literature, which is something else entirely.

[u/Lumi_Rockets]

Give him a week or so and he'll start saying he won it.

[u/L-V-N-A]

this dude seriously obsessed with meaningless pieces of paper for some reason

[u/DickRhino → u/L-V-N-A]

Literally the only reason he wants it is because Obama got one. That's it. There is no other reason. He has to upstage Obama to stroke his own ego. Which makes this even more pathetic, because he couldn't get it himself so he just strong-armed someone else into giving up theirs to him. It's not even a participation trophy, it's a medal with someone else's name on it.

And it's pathetic on Machado's part as well, because she's only doing it because she hopes it'll make her the new president of Venezuela. But she's about to find out that Trump doesn't honor deals and doesn't pay his bills, and will always throw you under the bus when he no longer has any use for you. He got what he wanted from her, so now he'll just never speak to her again. She will get nothing in return for doing this.

[u/Cagnazzo82 → u/L-V-N-A]

The prize is actually a huge plaque with gold.

He has a big devilish grin posing with it next to that disgraceful woman (who will never be the president of Venezuela).

[u/CommitteeRelative415 → u/Cagnazzo82]

The prize in question is a medal. She had it mounted on a guilded frame for Trump.

[u/RumHam1]

People sell their Olympic medals all the time.  just because I buy one doesn't make me an olympian.

[u/Jiquero → u/RumHam1]

I mean, Trump will definitely buy an Olympic medal from a golfer to back-up his claims that he's the best golfer ever.

[u/Arikaido777]

they gave the prize to a clown and now they’re “stunned” to find it in a circus? do I have that about right?

[u/jcrestor]

“We gave the price to a Trump fangirl, and now we are very surprised about her acting like a Trump fangirl.“

[u/Seif1973]

Trump & his admin are a complete clown show. It is like watching really bad reality tv.

[u/Distinct-Shift-4094]

Honestly, this is one of the embarrassing things I've witnessed in my life.