Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met with US president Donald Trump at the White House Friday morning for their first in-person meeting since Trump directed the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“We are counting on President Trump for the freedom of Venezuela,” Machado told reporters after the meeting, adding that she ‘presented’ her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump, who has publicly talked about his desire to receive the award.
Hours before, however, the Norwegian Nobel Committee shared a statement saying that while the trophy can be given away or even sold, “the title of a Nobel Prize laureate cannot”.
Nevertheless, the move by Machado to ‘present’ Trump with the medal is seen by many as a bid to win his sympathy, as the future of Venezuela’s leadership hangs in the balance.
In 2023, Machado won the opposition primary in Venezuela by a landslide, but she was barred from running against President Maduro, whose re-election a year later has been widely condemned as illegitimate.
Earlier this month, a US operation launched an invasion into Caracas, capturing Maduro and leaving Venezuela in a state of political and economic uncertainty. The Trump administration has framed the move as an attempt to hinder drug trafficking and so-called “narco-terrorism”, however, the US has asserted control over the country’s governance and oil industry.
Following Maduro’s abduction, his vice-president Delcy Rodriguez became interim president of Venezuela.
Looking to the country’s next leader, many were surprised that Trump sidelined Machado. The opposition had hoped the 58-year-old conservative politician would be an obvious leadership pick from the US.
When asked about a possible timeline for the Venezuelan elections, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the topic wasn’t an anticipated point of discussion in Machado and Trump’s meeting.
“I don’t think he [Trump] needs to hear anything from Ms Machado,” Leavitt said.
“I think, generally, this is a meeting that the president was willing to take, was willing to accept, to meet Ms Machado in person and to just have a frank and positive discussion about what is taking place in Venezuela.”
The White House has yet to make a formal statement following Trump’s closed-door meeting with Machado.