Trump to meet María Corina Machado at White House over Venezuela's future

Donald Trump will host María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel peace prize winner, at the White House on Thursday for talks about the oil-rich nation’s future following the US capture of Nicolás Maduro. Many in Venezuela and abroad had expected Machado to take charge after an elite US military team seized Maduro in a pre-dawn raid on 3 January and transported him to a New York City jail.

The White House has largely sidelined Machado, instead recognizing Maduro’s former vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, as Venezuela’s interim leader even as Trump has said the US will “run” the country. Venezuela’s ambassador to the UK, Félix Plasencia, was also set to land in Washington to meet Trump officials as part of a rapprochement reportedly aimed in part at paving the way for reopening the Venezuelan embassy.

Trump has sent mixed signals about Machado’s role, publicly calling her a “nice woman” while saying she lacked the “respect” needed to govern. Machado told Fox News she wanted to “share” her Nobel award with Trump — an idea rebuffed by the prize organisers — and Trump said it would be a “great honor” to accept it.

It has been reported that her acceptance of the prize hurt her standing with the administration, a point a source close to the White House told the Washington Post.

Key Topics

Politics, María Corina Machado, Donald Trump, Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, Nicolás Maduro