María Corina Machado says she hasn’t spoken to Trump since October and plans to return

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said in her first televised interview since the US military raid and the removal of Nicolás Maduro that she has not spoken to Donald Trump since October 10, 2025, and that she plans to return to Venezuela “as soon as possible” after leaving last month to accept an award in Norway, she told Fox News.

The comments came amid wider turmoil: more than a dozen media workers were detained in Caracas while covering a march in support of Maduro and the swearing-in of the new legislature, the Venezuelan press association said. All 14 detained were later released, the association posted on X, though one foreign journalist was deported.

Reuters quoted the association as saying those detained included 11 people working with international media outlets and one with a national outlet. Trump dismissed working with Machado, saying: “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country,” and US media reported that a classified CIA assessment presented to Trump concluded senior Maduro loyalists, including interim president Delcy Rodríguez, were best positioned to maintain stability.

Key Topics

World, María Corina Machado, Donald Trump, Nicolás Maduro, Delcy Rodriguez, Caracas