Trump to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado

Washington — Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado will meet with President Trump at the White House on Thursday, a White House official said. 

Mr. Trump has not endorsed Machado to lead Venezuela after the U.S. military operation to remove former President Nicolás Maduro, who is now facing drug trafficking charges in the U.S. Mr. Trump says the U.S. is taking charge of Venezuela for now and will be heavily involved in its oil market for potentially years. 

“She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,” Mr. Trump said about Machado on Jan. 3. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado has praised Mr. Trump and recently floated the idea of giving him her Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Institute said the prize cannot be transferred, revoked or shared, and is final. 

“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to, to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last week. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition.”

The institute awarded her the prize for her efforts to promote a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela. Mr. Trump has expressed frustration that he wasn’t the recipient of the award, citing the global conflicts his administration has helped settle.