"It's a very kind gesture. I didn't say, 'Give it to me then,' although I think she might have. She was very kind," the president told the press at the White House.

Grumpy in White House and MAGA circles after missing out on Nobel Prize: 'Pathetic'

Trump did not name the winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday that she will receive the prestigious award for her"struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy."

The White House reacted critically to that decision, accusing the committee of putting politics above peace. Trump makes no secret of his desire to win the Peace Prize and presents himself as a peacemaker.