In a significant diplomatic development, the White House has confirmed that former Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado will meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday. This meeting occurs against the backdrop of recent upheaval in Venezuela, where US forces apprehended President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas several weeks ago.
Despite Machado’s claim of victory in the highly contested 2024 elections, President Trump has notably refrained from endorsing her as Venezuela’s new leader. Instead, the US administration has thrown its support behind Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice-president, as interim leader of the South American nation.
The upcoming meeting carries complex symbolism as Machado previously expressed her intention to personally thank Trump for the action against Maduro and even proposed transferring her Nobel Peace Prize to the American president—an offer Trump initially called “a great honour” before the Nobel Committee clarified that such transfers are not permitted.
Trump’s position on Machado appears ambivalent at best. Earlier this month, following Maduro’s ouster, the president questioned Machado’s domestic support, stating she “doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,” while acknowledging she was “a very nice woman.”
The White House has presented a markedly different view of Rodríguez, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt describing her as “very cooperative with the United States” and Trump characterizing her as an “ally” who hasn’t faced any criminal charges from US officials.
Machado has vehemently opposed Rodríguez’s interim leadership, asserting that her coalition should “absolutely” govern Venezuela. In interviews, she has characterized Rodríguez as “one of the main architects of repression for innocent people” in Venezuela, claiming that both Venezuelans and international observers recognize her controversial role.
The Nobel laureate, who received the peace prize last year, has nonetheless praised US military intervention in her country as “a major step towards restoring prosperity and rule of law and democracy in Venezuela.”
Rodríguez has pushed back against suggestions of American control over Venezuela, asserting in a televised address that “The Venezuelan government rules our country, and no-one else does. There is no external agent governing Venezuela.”