President Trump gave his first reaction Friday evening to this year's Nobel Peace Prize going to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado rather than him.

"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," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"I didn't say, 'Then give it to me,' though I think she might have. She was very nice. And I've been, you know, I've been helping her along the way. They need a lot of help in Venezuela."

Trump said that "I made eight deals, transactions of wars," and that despite not receiving the award "I'm happy because I saved millions of lives, many millions of lives."

President Trump said Friday that he plans to speak to Israel's Knesset and then visit Cairo as he travels to the Middle East, as Hamas releases its final 20 Israeli hostages.

"I'll be going to Israel. I'll be speaking at the Knesset, I think early on, and then I'm also going to Egypt. They were terrific," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump is expected to participate in a formal peace-deal signing while in the Egyptian capital, formalizing the first phase of implementation of his 20-point peace plan.

"Gaza is going to be rebuilt," Trump added, noting that he will supervise reconstruction of the 2 million-person region as chairman of the Board of Peace due to monitor a transitional Palestinian government.

"We're also setting up, as you know, a Board of Peace. It's called the Board of Peace. I don't know if that's the final name, but the word 'peace' is definitely in there. They have asked me if I chair it. We'll make sure things go well," Trump said.

"They're all tired of the fighting. Don't forget, you had October 7, which was a horrible day, 1,200 people killed, but Hamas has lost 58,000 people. That's big retribution."

Trump touted the fact that the governments of Russia and Iran have supported his peace initiative and said that Arab countries' residence were "dancing in the streets."

He said he brought Hamas to a deal because "I spoke a little bit tough... they knew the retribution would be tremendous, unsustainable... It would have been it would have been complete obliteration."

Trump said he would return to the White House Tuesday to bestow the late Charlie Kirk with a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Dr. Mehmet Oz praised President Trump for "the art of the heal" as AstraZeneca joined Pfizer in agreeing to lower drug costs for the US government and uninsured Americans.

The pharmaceutical giant agreed to Trump's "most favored nations" (MFN) proposal, including listing drugs with discounts on a new "TrumpRX" website, following the president's threat of tariffs.

"As President Trump tries to make peace in every place he can go, but at the same time, President Trump is putting peace into the hearts of Americans and bringing peace of mind to them, especially Americans who cannot afford their medications," Oz said in the Oval Office.

The former reality TV star, who now leads the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said that Trump was releasing Americans "from the bondage of paying three times more for the exact same product."

"Mr. President, you're turning the 'Art of the Deal' into the art of the heal," Oz gushed.

"The single most powerful tool we had was the president because people take him seriously... they began to realize the jig was up."

Savage new photos Friday show anti-ICE agitators just outside Chicago brawling with police near an ICE detention facility, a day after a judge blocked President Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to the Windy City to reign in the violent protests.

Protesters in the suburb of Broadview wore gas masks, face coverings and goggles, prepared to spar with authorities.

Demonstrators held signs that said "From Chicago to Palestine, occupation is a crime," telling guard officers to "go home."

Others called Trump a traitor, and referenced his court cases.

Some brought instruments, like guitars and bongos, to the protest.

There was support for ICE's presence, with one woman holding a sign with a heart on it.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is among the offices being permanently downsized as a result of the ongoing partial government shutdown, The Post has learned.

The RIFs (reductions in force) in the federal bureaucracy began Friday, but the targets were not immediately clear — after President Trump repeatedly threatened to target offices cherished by Democrats if the party's senators refused to reopen the government.

CISA, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, was formerly led by Chris Krebs during Trump's first term and publicly dismissed Trump's allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that the feds charged a man in Florida for threatening conservative commentator Benny Johnson -- one month after the conservative icon Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

George Isbel was charged for mailing threats to Johnson and his wife, Kate, in which he allegedly fantasized about strangling the commentator "with an American flag" and leaving the couple's children as orphans.

The accused "made it clear he hated him because of his views and wanted him dead," Bondi said, and communicated the appalling plot in a similar way to threats made against Kirk.

"It is a crime, and if convicted, he is going to prison," she said at a press conference at the Tampa US Attorney's Office. "We are going to catch you if you think you can do something like this."

Johnson headlines his own eponymous show and enjoys more than 4 million followers on his X account. He's one of the most high-profile MAGA pundits.

The commentator thanked the FBI, which he said "operated with absolute speed and professionalism."

Bondi and other Trump administration officials announced a widespread crackdown on left-wing violence earlier this week -- including actions taken by so-called "Antifa" members.

White House budget director Russ Vought announced Friday that permanent job reductions have begun at federal agencies after Senate Democrats again blocked a reopening of the government.

"The RIFs have begun," Vought tweeted, using an acronym for reductions in force, which are expected to remain in effect after the shutdown ends.

President Trump has threatened to mass-fire workers at agencies and offices cherished by Democrats as a way to increase pressure to resolve the funding impasse.

President Trump threatened Friday to cancel his planned meeting later this month with Chinese President Xi Jinping and to impose “massive” new tariffs over Beijing’s new export controls.

“Some very strange things are happening in China!” Trump wrote in a lengthy social media statement.

“They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China.”

Trump added: “Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one. I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!”

“There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World ‘captive,’ but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the ‘Magnets’ and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least,” Trump wrote.

“But the U.S. has Monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s. I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so — UNTIL NOW! The letter they sent is many pages long, and details, with great specificity, each and every Element that they want to withhold from other Nations. Things that were routine are no longer routine at all. I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so. This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World. I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so.”

Trump concluded: “Dependent on what China says about the hostile ‘order’ that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two. I never thought it would come to this but perhaps, as with all things, the time has come… One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America. There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.”

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Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Friday dedicated her award to President Trump and his "decisive support" of democracy in the South American nation.

"This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom," Machado said in a statement Friday.

"We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy."

"I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!"

Trump has sent warships off the coast of the country, targeting narco-terrorists from Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro's drug cartels, and his administration placed a $50 million bounty on his head in August for his capture.

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Two Chicagoans were federally charged Friday after ramming a vehicle into ICE agents while armed, prompting them to open fire.

Marimar Martinez was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois for impeding US officials with "a deadly and dangerous weapon."

Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz was also indicted by the grand jury for the same count.

First lady Melania Trump stunned journalists Friday by announcing that she has had an "open channel" with Russian President Vladimir Putin that's yielded the reunification of eight Ukrainian children with their families.

"A child's soul knows no borders," the first lady began her closely held announcement in the White House grand foyer.

Melania Trump wrote a letter to Putin that was delivered at President Trump's Aug. 15 Alaska summit with his Russian counterpart and "much has unfolded since President Putin received my letter," she said.

Putin replied to her letter and "since then President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication," the Slovenia-born former fashion model said, describing "several back channel meetings and calls" that have taken place.

"My representative has been working directly with President Putin's team" to connect children and their families, Melania Trump said.

Eight kids have been returned to families over past 24 hours, she said, including one who was brought from Ukraine to her family in Russia, and "plans are already underway" for further reunifications.

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President Trump, 79, pumped his fist as he headed to Marine One for his "semi-annual physical" at Walter Reed.

The president had an earlier check-in with physicians this year, though this visit will also involve meetings with wounded troops.