Trump Calls It a ‘Wonderful Gesture’ After Machado Presents Her Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Institute clarified that Machado was not allowed to pass her award on to Trump, a distinction he has long sought. However, a White House official said Trump plans to retain the medal.
US President Donald Trump has finally received the Nobel Peace Prize medal from Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a gamble by the current winner to win over Republican Party leader Maria Corina Machado, who recently refused to support her challenge to Venezuela’s ruling regime.
Machado was her nation’s democratic leader until Trump’s decision earlier this month—first to oust Venezuela’s longtime leader Nicolas Maduro and then to back his deputy.
After meeting at the White House, Trump praised the Venezuelan leader for “giving me the Nobel Peace Prize for my work.”
“She’s an incredible woman who has endured so much,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding that Machado’s presentation of the medal to him was a “wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”
May Machado Turn Down the Nobel Prize?
The Nobel Institute has said Machado will not be able to present his prize to Trump, an honor he has greatly cherished.
While the gesture may prove purely symbolic, it was extraordinary because Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of the resistance in Venezuela.
A White House official confirmed to Reuters that Trump intends to keep the medal.
Machado’s Response
After leaving the White House and heading to Capitol Hill, Machado told reporters, “I gave the President of the United States a medal, a Nobel Peace Prize.”
She said she did so “to recognize his extraordinary commitment to our freedom.”
The move came as Trump cast doubt on his commitment to supporting democratic rule in Venezuela and offered no timetable for when elections might be held.
Trump has said that it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have support or respect in the country.” Her party is believed to have won the 2024 election, which Maduro has rejected.
He also expressed his willingness to work with acting president Delcy Rodríguez, who is Maduro’s second-in-command.
On Thursday, Machado said she had shared some specific details during the conversation. She did not elaborate on what was said. After the closed-door meeting, Machado greeted dozens of supporters waiting for her near the White House gates and hugged several of them.
“We can trust President Trump,” she said without elaborating, prompting some in the crowd to briefly chant, “Thank you, Trump.”
Before arriving in Washington, Machado had not been seen publicly since traveling to Norway last month, where her daughter accepted the peace prize on her behalf.
She had been in hiding in Venezuela for 11 months before emerging in Norway for the ceremony.
Hopes are rising for a transition to democratic rule
One of the senators who met with Machado, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, said the opposition leader told the senators that repression in Venezuela is now indistinguishable from Maduro’s rule.
He said that Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodríguez is a “smooth operator” who is growing stronger by the day thanks to Trump’s support.
“I hope there will be elections, but I’m skeptical,” said Murphy of Connecticut.
Trump has said his focus is on securing U.S. access to the country’s oil and rebuilding Venezuela economically.
Trump has praised Rodríguez, Maduro’s second-in-command, on several occasions, who became the Venezuelan leader after Maduro’s capture. In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Trump said, “She’s been very good to deal with.”
A top court packed with Maduro’s allies had banned Machado from participating in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election.
Outside observers believe that opposition leader Edmundo González, who was supported by Machado, won by a wide margin, but Maduro claimed victory and remained in power.
While the current government has released dozens of political prisoners in recent days, outside groups and lawyers have said that Caracas has exaggerated the scale of the releases.
In her annual address to lawmakers, Rodríguez called for diplomacy with the United States and said that if she had to go to Washington, she would “walk there on her own two feet, not be dragged there.”
She also said she would propose reforms to her country’s oil industry aimed at increasing access for foreign investors.
