Daily London
Maria Corina Machado, whose party many observers deem to have won the 2024 election victory claimed by ousted ex-president Nicolas Maduro, met with Donald Trump behind closed doors this morning (AEDT time).
She arrived from an unknown location, having left Venezuela last year after she was briefly detained by authorities in Caracas.
After meeting Trump, she mingled with supporters near the White House gates.
“We can count on President Trump,” she said, according to media on-site, but otherwise did not open up on the content of their conversation.
She next spoke with several senators on Capitol Hill, before speaking to reporters, when she told them of the Nobel presentation, saying it was in recognition of “his unique commitment with our freedom”.
Associated Press reported there was no immediate word from the White House as to whether the gift had been accepted.
Trump has previously been dismissive about the idea of Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize coveted by the US president in 2025, leading Venezuela in the wake of US forces kidnapping Maduro to stand trial in New York.
Prior to their meeting, he said she did not have the respect or support inside the country to do so, despite the broad international assessment of her electoral success.
Since Machado left the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, while hailing her as “a remarkable and brave voice”, said Trump’s opinion had not changed.
It was, Leavitt said, “a realistic assessment”.
Trump has also signalled a willingness to engage with interim president Delcy Rodriguez, a Maduro loyalist and his former vice president.
The pair have talked on the phone, with Trump characterising it as a “great conversation” on a wide range of topics.
Rodriguez, for her part, has varied her tone on the US and Trump.
Originally condemning the kidnapping of Maduro and demanding his return, she has since said she is open to diplomacy with the US and may even be willing to open up Venezuela’s nationalised oil industry to foreign investment.
