Trump Says Receiving Nobel From Venezuela's Machado 'Would Be a Great Honor,' Confirms Meeting Next Week

President Donald Trump said he expects to meet Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado next week and would accept the Nobel Peace Prize she has said she wants to share with him.

"I understand she's coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her," Trump said in an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity that aired Thursday. He added that he had heard Machado wanted to give him the prize and said "that would be a great honor."

Trump made the remarks while again arguing that his record warranted a Nobel Peace Prize. During the same interview, he said he had ended "eight wars — eight and a quarter," adding that, in theory, each one merited its own award. "When you put out eight wars, in theory, you should get one for each war," Trump said.

In a separate Hannity interview earlier this week, Machado praised the U.S. military operation that captured former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, saying it opened a path toward a democratic transition. "On behalf of the Venezuelan people," she told Hannity, "we want to share" the prize with Trump. She said she plans to return to Venezuela and has called for elections to replace Maduro.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute responded the day after that the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred or shared, though recipients may dispose of the prize money as they wish. Machado has said any sharing would be symbolic.

Trump has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize for years, frequently citing what he describes as his role in ending multiple conflicts. He has previously disputed reports that his reluctance to back Machado politically during Venezuela's current transition stemmed from her acceptance of the prize, saying it had "nothing to do" with his position.