Donald Trump to receive Nobel Peace Prize from Maria Corina Machado this week? Can Venezuelan opposition leader transfer the prize?
Hours after dismissing Maduro, Trump said Machado lacked the “respect” needed to lead the country, despite the United States supporting him and his surrogate presidential candidate ahead of Venezuela’s latest election.
The Trump administration is working with Delcy Rodriguez, a former aide to Maduro who is now Venezuela’s interim president.
Since Maduro’s ouster, Machado has lavished praise on Trump and offered to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, an award the US president has long publicly coveted.
Speaking last week, Trump said it would be “a great honor” to accept the gift. The Nobel Institute said the prize cannot be transferred from one person to another.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Washington’s policy of dealing with Rodriguez rather than the opposition represented by Machado.
“President Trump and his national security team made a realistic assessment of the reality in Venezuela, and it turned out to be a good decision,” Leavitt told Fox News. Leavitt said Washington was “fully cooperating” with Venezuelan authorities, including the U.S. seizure of oil.
Trump has repeatedly said the United States will dictate how Venezuela will be governed after Maduro’s ouster, but interim President Rodriguez rejected that characterization.
