Sakshi VenkatramanAnd
Bernd Debusmann Jr,White House reporter
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado will meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday, the White House confirmed.
This visit comes just weeks after the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas by American forces. But Trump has refused to support Machado, whose movement claimed victory in the widely contested 2024 election, as the new leader.
The United States instead supported Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president.
Machado said last week that she hoped to personally thank Trump for the action against Maduro and would like to present him with the Nobel Prize. Trump called it a “great honor,” but the Nobel Committee later clarified that it was not transferable.
Earlier, Trump expressed displeasure with Machado’s decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor the president had long coveted.
Asked Friday whether receiving Machado’s award might change his view of her role in Venezuela, the president said: “She might be involved in some aspects of this matter.”
“I’m going to have to talk to her. I think it’s very good that she wants to come in. And that’s why I understand the reason,” he said.
Earlier this month, after Maduro’s ouster, Trump said Machado “doesn’t have the support or respect within the country.” “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect,” he said.
The United States has so far supported Delcy Rodríguez as interim president of Venezuela.
Trump describes Rodríguez as an “ally” and she has not been charged with any crimes by U.S. officials.
“Delcy Rodríguez and her team have been very cooperative with the United States,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
But Machado maintained that his coalition should “absolutely” take control of the country.
Machado said no one trusted Rodríguez, telling CBS that the interim leader was “one of the main architects… of the repression against innocent people” in the South American country.
“Everyone in Venezuela and abroad knows perfectly well who she is and the role she played,” Machado said.
The former lawmaker, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, described the U.S. military action in Venezuela as “a major step toward restoring prosperity, the rule of law and democracy to Venezuela.”
Rodríguez refuted Trump’s claims that the United States was in charge of Venezuela.
“The Venezuelan government runs our country, and no one else does,” she said in a televised speech. “There is no outside agent to govern Venezuela.”