Washington: Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado said she personally handed her Nobel Peace Prize medal to U.S. President Donald Trump during a private meeting at the White House on Thursday, framing the gesture as a tribute to his role in confronting Venezuela’s authoritarian leadership.
Speaking to reporters after leaving the White House, Machado described the exchange as symbolic, saying she offered the medal to Trump in appreciation of what she called his commitment to Venezuela’s struggle for freedom. Trump later confirmed the encounter on social media, writing that Machado had left the medal with him and praising her resilience after years of political persecution.
The Nobel Institute has previously clarified that recipients are not permitted to transfer the prize itself, underscoring that the moment was largely ceremonial. Still, the episode drew attention because it comes amid uncertainty over Machado’s political future and Trump’s own mixed signals about her leadership prospects in post-Maduro Venezuela.
Although Machado has been the most recognizable face of Venezuela’s democratic opposition, Trump has publicly questioned whether she has sufficient domestic support to govern. At the same time, his administration has indicated a willingness to engage with interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who previously served as Nicolás Maduro’s deputy and now oversees day-to-day government operations.
After her White House visit, Machado emerged to greet a crowd of supporters gathered near the gates, embracing several of them and declaring, “We can count on President Trump,” without offering further detail. The statement prompted cheers and chants of gratitude from those present.
Machado had kept a low public profile in recent months. She spent nearly a year in hiding inside Venezuela before traveling to Norway, where her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. Her appearance in Washington marked one of her most visible public moments since then.
Despite the celebratory tone outside the White House, the political landscape in Venezuela remains complex. Rodríguez continues to lead the interim government and, in a speech Thursday, advocated restoring diplomatic relations with the United States and opening Venezuela’s oil sector to increased foreign investment. Her remarks followed Trump’s pledge to assert U.S. control over Venezuelan crude exports.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described Machado as a courageous and influential voice but emphasized that the meeting did not represent a shift in Trump’s assessment of her political viability. She said the president supports new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right,” though no timetable was offered.
Leavitt added that Machado had requested the meeting without preconditions and spent roughly two and a half hours at the White House. Following her visit, Machado met privately with a bipartisan group of U.S. senators.
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said Machado warned lawmakers that delays in moving toward elections or a transfer of power could deepen instability. He noted that she portrayed Rodríguez as an even more hardline figure than Maduro. Murphy said Machado did not relay any concrete commitments from the White House regarding elections.
Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio took a more enthusiastic view, saying Machado made clear that removing Maduro was, in her words, one of the most consequential developments in recent Latin American history.
Machado’s Washington trip coincided with continued U.S. enforcement actions in the Caribbean, including the seizure of another oil tanker allegedly linked to Venezuela. The actions are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to assert control over Venezuela’s energy assets following the capture of Maduro and his wife in Caracas earlier this month and their transfer to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said interim authorities in Caracas have cooperated with Washington and confirmed that several prisoners detained under Maduro, including five Americans, were recently released. Trump also said this week that he had a positive conversation with Rodríguez, his first direct exchange with her since Maduro’s removal.
Machado, an industrial engineer and longtime critic of Venezuela’s ruling party, has been active in opposition politics for more than two decades. She first drew national attention in 2004 as a co-founder of Súmate, an organization that backed a recall referendum against then-President Hugo Chávez. That effort failed, and she and other leaders later faced criminal charges. Her confrontations with the government continued over the years, including a controversial meeting with former U.S. President George W. Bush that angered Chávez.
In 2024, Machado helped mobilize millions of voters against Maduro’s bid for another term, though authorities loyal to the ruling party declared him the winner despite widespread allegations of fraud. Protests that followed were met with a harsh crackdown.
Now, even as she seeks international backing, Machado faces the challenge of winning over a U.S. administration that has yet to fully endorse her leadership — a reality underscored by Thursday’s symbolic but uncertain meeting.
