Tuesday, January 13, 2026 -Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, according to a senior administration official.
The visit comes amid lingering uncertainty over Machado’s political future
following recent US military strikes in Caracas and the capture of Venezuela’s
longtime leader, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has
since been sworn in as acting president.
In the aftermath of the January 3 operation, Trump declined to endorse
Machado as Venezuela’s leader, saying it would be difficult for her to govern
because she lacked sufficient public support and respect within the country.
Machado, however, holds a distinction Trump has long sought, a Nobel Peace
Prize. She has suggested she would be willing to offer the award to the president;
a gesture Trump has described as an “honor,” though the Norwegian Nobel
Institute has stated that Nobel Prizes cannot be transferred.
When asked whether receiving Machado’s prize would prompt him to
reconsider her role in Venezuela, Trump did not give a direct answer.
“I’m going to have to speak to her. She might be involved in some aspect
of it. I will have to speak to her. I think it’s very nice that she wants to
come in, and that’s what I understand the reason is,” Trump said during a White
House meeting with oil executives.
“I can’t think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more
than me. And I don’t want to be bragging, but nobody else settled wars,” he
added.
Trump has also signaled openness to meeting Rodríguez in the future.
“We’re working along really well with the leadership, and we’ll see how it
all works out,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Last week, Trump announced that he had canceled a second wave of attacks
on Venezuela, citing the country’s cooperation with the United States and its
release of political prisoners. He later described Venezuela as an ally “right
now,” while reiterating that further military action was unnecessary.
The president has suggested that US involvement in Venezuela could last
for years, telling The New York Times, “Only time will tell.”
However, his efforts to court oil companies as part of a broader plan to
expand drilling and rebuild Venezuela’s energy sector have met resistance.
Executives have raised concerns about the country’s long-term stability, and no
major investment commitments emerged from a recent White House meeting, with
ExxonMobil’s chief executive reportedly describing Venezuela as “uninvestible.”
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