Most Venezuelans want opposition leader Machado to lead, but Trump has other ideasOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\nHe has also, however, cast doubt on Ms Machado\u2019s ability to run the country. <\/p>\n
Those remarks stunned opposition leaders and Ms Machado\u2019s allies abroad, including some Republican lawmakers. <\/p>\n
In a further sign that Ms Machado may struggle to gain more power in Venezuela, Ms Leavitt said that Trump was pleased so far with how interim president Delcy Rodr\u00edguez and her government have run Venezuela.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have thus far met all of the demands and requests of the United States and of the president,\u201d Ms Leavitt told reporters. \u201cThe president likes what he\u2019s seeing and will expect that co-operation to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Trump spoke to Rodriguez on Wednesday, and US officials were expected to meet one of her envoys in Washington later on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Ms Machado visit to the White House comes less than two weeks after Mr Maduro was captured and brought to a New York jail to face federal charges for alleged narco-trafficking. <\/p>\n
Hours after that operation, Mr Trump told reporters he thought it would be difficult for Ms Machado to run Venezuela, saying he didn\u2019t believe she had \u201csupport\u201d or \u201crespect\u201d in the country \u2013 even though she won more than 90 per cent of the vote in an opposition primary in 2023.<\/p>\n
In the days since, Mr Trump has announced plans for Caracas to turn over billions of dollars in crude oil. <\/p>\n
Mr Trump has also pressured major oil companies to invest in the country to rejuvenate its energy infrastructure. He praised Ms Rodriguez for freeing some political prisoners, including close aides to Machado.<\/p>\n
The White House has said the US will run the country until new presidential elections can take place, but has not offered a timeline for that development, while declining to back Ms Machado as the next leader.<\/p>\n
Ms Machado has sought to court Trump\u2019s backing, including by trying to heal a rift over the Nobel, a prize Trump has long coveted. <\/p>\n
![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/YKU3PMCSRKKAGZKPFNGMGV45ZQ.jpg\")
Maria Corina Machado speaks with US Senate minority whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, and other senators at the US Capitol. Photograph: Drew Angerer\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
Her recent comments that she wanted to present him with the award prompted the Norwegian Nobel Institute to say that the award cannot be shared or transferred.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump said it would be a \u201cgreat honour\u201d to accept the award from her, but in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday said he did not want her to present him with the prize.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t say that. She won the Nobel Peace Prize,\u201d Mr Trump said, while adding that he was \u201chearing\u201d she might. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t be the one to say,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Ms Machado was also scheduled to to meet lawmakers on Capitol Hill and hold an event with the Venezuelan diaspora. <\/p>\n
She met on Monday with Pope Leo XIV, with the pontiff voicing \u201cdeep concern\u201d over the US raid to capture Mr Maduro in Caracas and calling for a peaceful political solution. \u2013 Bloomberg and Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she presented US president Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,356,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,4450,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-286528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-latest-news","15":"tag-latestnews","16":"tag-main-news","17":"tag-mainnews","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-venezuela","22":"tag-world","23":"tag-world-news","24":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115901533048585641","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Venezuelan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GS5K2T2P2GUYSAAWHRVB3AJZBU.jpg\")
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mar\u00eda Corina Machado carries a gift bag with President Donald Trump’s signature on it outside the White House. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images <\/p>\n