US President Donald Trump said he will meet Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado next week and would accept the award she has said she wants to share with him.
US President Donald Trump said he will meet Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado next week, adding that he would accept the award she has said she wants to share with him.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday, Trump said Machado is expected to visit the United States soon, and he would be honoured to receive the prize.
“Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump told Hannity in a taped interview aired Thursday night.
Machado’s office has not immediately confirmed the meeting, and the White House has not provided further details.
Machado praises Trump and vows return to Venezuela
In the Hannity interview, Machado — who lavished praise on Trump — said she has not spoken to him since October, when she was named a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
She spent the final days of Nicolás Maduro’s rule in hiding in Venezuela before appearing in Oslo, where her daughter accepted the prize on her behalf. Machado pledged to return home and called for elections to replace Maduro. On the show, she expressed gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people for what she described as Trump’s “courageous mission” and said they want to “share” the prize with him after US forces captured Maduro and his wife and brought them to New York to face narco‑terrorism charges.
Trump’s history with the Nobel Peace Prize
Trump has openly sought the Nobel Peace Prize himself, claiming to have “solved” several international conflicts and receiving backing from some world leaders for those claims.
Machado, a former National Assembly member, won Venezuela’s opposition primary two years ago but was barred by Maduro from running in the general election. Maduro declared victory for the candidate she supported, but audits and independent monitors later found the official result to be invalid.
US role in Venezuela after Maduro’s removal
Following the US operation that arrested Maduro, Trump said the United States would assist Venezuela’s interim leadership under Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice‑president. He has not set a date for elections and questioned whether Machado has the domestic support to lead the country. “It would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump told reporters, adding that she lacks support and respect within Venezuela.
The potential meeting comes after the high-profile US operation to remove Maduro, which left Rodríguez as acting president. Rodríguez has faced criticism from opposition figures and international observers amid continuing political uncertainty.
Mixed reactions from US politicians
Several Republican lawmakers have publicly called for support of Machado’s leadership, but Trump has been sceptical of her prospects. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described her as “fantastic” but said the rapidly changing situation in Venezuela required other leadership. He added that much of the opposition is no longer inside the country, complicating efforts to install Machado.
Two sources close to the White House told The Washington Post that Trump’s reluctance to back Machado was linked to her acceptance of the Peace Prize. One said that if she had declined it in Trump’s favour, she might be Venezuela’s president today.
Machado confident in her chances
Despite the doubts, Machado told Hannity she believes she would win the presidency in a landslide if elections were held.
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