When the Venezuelan opposition leader arrived at the White House on Thursday for a lunch meeting with President Donald Trump, her main aim was to convey to Trump the significance of transforming Venezuela from an autocracy into a government elected by the Venezuelans.
It might be a difficult task. Since Trump ordered the arrest of the country’s dictator Nicolás Maduro in a military raid on January 3, he has shown support for Maduro’s ally Delcy Rodriguez as Venezuela’s interim President, calling her “terrific,” while dismissing Machado as not being respected enough by Venezuelans to be their next leader. In the nearly two weeks since Maduro’s ouster, Rodriguez’s government has sent armed militias into the streets of those who expressed support for Maduro’s capture.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio want what remains of Maduro’s autocratic government to meet U.S. demands to control Venezuela’s oil output and to halt drug smuggling. He has not publicly stated when he wants the current government to agree to permit free elections in the country. Maduro’s government refused to step down in July 2024 when Maduro lost the country’s presidential election. Machado’s ally Edmundo González won that election after Machado was barred from the ballot.
As the high-stakes meeting was in progress, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “looking forward” to having “a good and positive discussion.” Leavitt commended Machado as “a remarkable and brave voice for many of the people in” Venezuela.
One question on people’s minds is whether Machado will give Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal. Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the award and his supporters have for accepting it. The day Machado won the award, she called Trump at the White House to tell him she was dedicating the prize to him. Machado told Fox News host Sean Hannity last week that she would like to tell him personally that the Venezuelan people “want to give it to him and share it with him.” Soon after, the Norwegian Nobel Institute released a statement asserting that its prizes “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
