Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during a White House meeting.
Maria Corina Machado met United States President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, in talks described by the White House as “positive,” despite Trump’s earlier decision to sideline her after the toppling of Nicolas Maduro.
Machado, 58, has campaigned for years to end Maduro’s leftist rule. After the January United States military operation that captured the Venezuelan leader, Trump backed interim president Delcy Rodriguez instead of Machado. Trump said Machado lacked sufficient public support in the oil-rich country.
In a bid to repair ties, Machado offered to share her Nobel Peace Prize with Trump and later presented him the medal.
Trump posted on Truth Social that Machado giving him “her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done” was a “wonderful gesture of mutual respect”. He praised her as a “wonderful woman” who had “been through so much”.
After leaving the White House, Machado met jubilant supporters outside and then held meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. It was unclear whether Trump kept the medal.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee reiterated that Nobel titles cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred. A medal may change hands, but the laureate’s title remains with the award recipient.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunch and called Machado a “remarkable and brave voice for many Venezuelans”.
She said Trump wanted to discuss the situation on the ground in Venezuela and the prospects for elections. However, she did not specify a timeline.
Leavitt said Trump “likes what he’s seeing” from Rodriguez’s interim administration, which has granted United States access to Venezuelan oil.
Since Maduro’s capture, Trump has said the United States will “run” Venezuela. Washington has pushed for economic concessions in exchange for political backing and has praised the release of dozens of political prisoners, though hundreds remain in jail.
United States forces seized a sixth Venezuelan oil tanker this week as part of efforts to control oil shipments.
Marines and sailors apprehended the tanker Veronica in the Caribbean in a pre-dawn raid. A US official said the first United States-brokered sale of Venezuelan oil, valued at around $500 million, has been finalised. The buyer was not named.
Trump and Rodriguez spoke by telephone on Wednesday for the first time. Trump called her a “terrific person”. Rodriguez said the call was “productive and courteous” and conducted with “mutual respect”. While delivering Maduro’s state of the nation address in parliament, Rodriguez said Venezuela was “not afraid” of diplomatic confrontation.
She acknowledged United States power but said Caracas would defend its position through political dialogue. Maduro remains in a New York jail facing drug trafficking charges.
Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against Maduro and collected it in Oslo after escaping Venezuela by boat.
She remained in effective exile afterwards. Venezuela’s opposition maintains that Maduro stole the 2024 election from Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, Machado’s party candidate.
Washington has supported those claims.
Shockwaves from the United States operation continue across the region. Cuba held a tribute for 32 soldiers killed during the mission, including members of Maduro’s security team. Revolutionary leader Raul Castro attended the ceremony.
