Trump Draws Laughs With Pointed ‘Give It To Me’ Quip About Nobel Peace Prize

President Donald Trump drew laughter when he made a pointed and telling quip about his conversation with newly-awarded Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado.

The Nobel Committee honored Machado on Friday for her activism in opposition to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime, a prize that Machado dedicated to Trump. The decision sent waves of apoplexy through Trump’s allies and supporters.

Trump took questions from reporters Friday evening after an announcement on prescription drug prices, during which he was asked about the prize.

The president drew laughs when he recounted the conversation he had with Machado, and quipped that he resisted demanding she give the award to him:

REPORTER: Yeah, the Nobel Peace Prize was announced this morning. Your thoughts?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Which one?

REPORTER: The Nobel Peace Prize. Do you have any thoughts?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Look, I — including a very big one. And I’m not sure — you know, when you say big, it’s certainly, I think, to the mind of most, the most important deal ever made in terms of peace. But the one we just signed, it’s been signed, sealed, and it’s going to start taking place now. It’s already started. Monday is going to be a very big day when the hostages come back.

But I made eight deals, transactions of wars. One was 31 years going on. Ten million people were killed. One was 34 years. One was 36, 37. One was 10. One was just starting. Two were just starting, actually, but they were well on their way. In the case of India and Pakistan, seven planes were shot down. It was a bad one.

And I did it largely through trade. I mean, that one, numerous of them. I talked tariffs. I said, “Look, if you’re going to do that, we’re going to put very big tariffs on your country.” And they were both great. They stopped fighting, and they were two nuclear powers. So, you know, they’re all big.

They’re every one of them big. You take a look at the Congo. You take a look at the Congo and Rwanda. Ten million people killed over a long period of time. That one’s solved. We did a total of eight as of two days ago. I would have said seven, which I did say. But the other one was signed up, sealed. As you know, Israel signed it just now. They signed it, and they approved it today, their parliament. And it’s a great honor to be involved with so many.

So the person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me, and said, “I’m accepting this in honor of you because you really deserved it.” A very nice thing to do. I didn’t say, “Then give it to me,” though. I think she might have. She was very nice.

Watch above via The White House.