Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado is scheduled to visit the White House on Thursday for talks with President Donald Trump, officials confirmed.
Her visit comes amid heightened tensions in Venezuela after U.S. forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, leaving the country’s political future uncertain.
Machado, who has been a prominent critic of Maduro’s government, said she looks forward to personally thanking Trump for the recent U.S. actions in Venezuela. She also expressed a symbolic wish to share her Nobel Peace Prize with the president.
Trump described the offer as “a great honour,” although the Nobel Committee later clarified that the prize cannot be transferred.
The U.S. president has previously shown mixed views about Machado’s role in Venezuela.
After Maduro’s removal, he said, “She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.” Asked whether the Nobel Prize might influence his view of her leadership, Trump said, “She might be involved in some aspect of it. I will have to speak to her. I think it’s very nice that she wants to come in.”
While Machado’s coalition claimed victory in Venezuela’s 2024 elections, the U.S. has instead backed Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice-president, as interim president. T
rump has described Rodríguez as an “ally” who has been “very cooperative with the United States,” and she has not faced any U.S. charges. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed this, noting, “Delcy Rodríguez and her team have been very cooperative with the United States.”
Machado, however, insists her coalition should take charge of the country. She criticized Rodríguez in an interview with CBS, calling her “one of the main architects… of repression for innocent people” in Venezuela.
“Everybody in Venezuela and abroad knows perfectly who she is and the role she has played,” Machado added. She also described the U.S. military intervention as “a major step towards restoring prosperity and rule of law and democracy in Venezuela.”
Rodríguez has dismissed claims that the U.S. is controlling Venezuelan affairs. In a televised address, she said, “The Venezuelan government rules our country, and no-one else does. There is no external agent governing Venezuela.”
The upcoming White House meeting will mark the first direct engagement between Machado and Trump since the capture of Maduro, and observers expect the discussion to focus on Venezuela’s political transition and the role various leaders may play in shaping the country’s future.
