Machado presented Trump with her Nobel award at White House meeting

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado told reporters that she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at a private meeting at the White House on Thursday, but did not say whether he accepted it.

“I think today is a historic day for us Venezuelans,” he said after meeting Trump, his first face-to-face meeting.

In the weeks after US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Trump refused to support Machado as the new leader, whose movement declared victory in widely disputed elections in 2024.

Instead, he is dealing with the acting president there, Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president.

After leaving the White House, Machado spoke to supporters gathered at the gates outside, telling them in Spanish: “We can trust President Trump,” according to the Associated Press.

“I presented the president of the United States with the Nobel Peace Prize medal,” Machado later told reporters in English, calling it “recognition of his unparalleled commitment to our freedom.”

It is not yet clear whether Trump accepts the award. Trump, who often talks about his desire to be deemed worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, expressed his dissatisfaction with the award being given to Machado, and he decided to accept this honor last year.

Machado announced last week that he would share this with Trump, but the Nobel Committee later declared that it was non-transferable.

During his visit to Washington, Machado also visited Congress to meet with US senators; There, his statements to reporters were drowned out by supporters chanting “María, Presidente” and waving Venezuelan flags.

Machado was expected to use his time with Trump to try to convince him that supporting Rodriguez’s interim government was a mistake and that his opposition coalition should be responsible for the transition.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday as the meeting continued that Machado was “a remarkable and courageous voice for many of the Venezuelan people.”

Trump had previously described him as a “freedom fighter” but rejected the idea of ​​appointing him to head Venezuela after Maduro’s ouster, saying he did not have enough domestic support.

“The President looked forward to this meeting and expected a frank and positive discussion,” Leavitt said. he said. “He wants to hear directly from Ms. Machado about the facts in Venezuela and what is happening in the country.”

Since Maduro’s seizure on January 3, the Trump administration has moved quickly to restructure Venezuela’s oil sector, which is under US sanctions. The US has completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil worth $500 million (£373 million), an American official said on Wednesday.