Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to U.S. President Donald Trump during a high-profile meeting in Washington on Thursday, describing the encounter as “excellent” and a recognition of his commitment to the freedom of the Venezuelan people.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump accepted the medal. Even if physically handed over, the Nobel Peace Prize remains with Machado, as the Norwegian Nobel Institute has stated that the award cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked. Trump later told Reuters that Machado was the rightful recipient of the prize.
The meeting, which lasted just over an hour, marked the first in-person encounter between Machado and Trump. Following the lunch, Machado met with more than a dozen Republican and Democratic senators on Capitol Hill, where she has found comparatively stronger support.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the meeting but maintained his view that Machado currently lacks sufficient support to lead Venezuela in the short term.
Machado, who fled Venezuela in December, is seeking to influence the country’s political future following the recent U.S. operation that led to the capture of longtime leader Nicolas Maduro. Since then, opposition figures and international observers have expressed cautious hopes for a transition toward democracy.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said Machado told lawmakers that repression in Venezuela continues much as it did under Maduro, warning that interim President Delcy Rodriguez was becoming increasingly entrenched. Trump, however, has praised Rodriguez in recent remarks, saying she had been “very good to deal with,” while emphasizing U.S. interests in Venezuela’s oil sector.
Machado was barred from contesting the 2024 presidential election, though international observers widely believe opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won the vote. Despite recent releases of political prisoners, rights groups say the scale of reforms has been overstated by Caracas.
