The visit placed Machado — the face of Venezuela’s democratic opposition after more than a decade of persecution under Maduro’s government — in a politically difficult position: celebrated symbolically by a president who has simultaneously said she lacks the standing to lead her country and who has signaled his preference for working with Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy and now Venezuela’s acting president.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, handing him an honor the Nobel Institute had ruled she could not transfer, in a gesture she described as gratitude for his role in ousting Nicolás Maduro. Trump confirmed on social media that he accepted the medal and had found the meeting an honor. Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House before heading to Capitol Hill, where senators said she received no commitment from the administration on elections or a democratic transition.
The meeting placed Machado in a politically difficult position: celebrated in the Oval Office by a president who has simultaneously said she lacks the standing to lead her country. Trump has signaled his preference for working with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy who remains in charge of day-to-day government operations in Venezuela following Maduro’s capture and extradition to New York roughly two weeks ago on drug trafficking charges.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters after leaving the White House and heading to Capitol Hill. She said she had done so “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Trump confirmed on social media that Machado had left the medal for him. “She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” Trump said. “Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!” The White House posted a photo of Machado standing next to Trump in the Oval Office as he held the medal in a large frame. Text in the frame read: “Presented as a personal symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people in recognition of President Trump’s principled and decisive action to secure a free Venezuela.”
The Nobel Institute had said before the meeting that Machado could not give her prize to Trump.
No timetable on elections
Despite the warm imagery, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the encounter in constrained terms. She called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” but said the meeting did not change Trump’s assessment of her, calling it “a realistic assessment.” Leavitt said Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but declined to say when.
Trump had previously cast doubt on Machado’s leadership prospects. Just hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump said it would be “very tough” for her to lead Venezuela because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Leavitt said Machado had sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur.
Machado told reporters after leaving the White House, “We can count on President Trump,” without elaborating.
Senate meeting yields no commitments
After the White House, Machado met in closed session with a bipartisan group of senators. Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said Machado delivered a direct warning: “if there’s not some progress, real progress towards a transition in power, and/or elections in the next several months, we should all be worried.”
Murphy said Machado received no commitment from the White House on elections. She also told the senators, he said, that Rodríguez “is, in many ways, worse than Maduro.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno, Republican of Ohio, struck a sharply different tone, saying Machado “delivered a message that loud and clear: What President Trump did was the most important, significant event in Latin America. That getting rid of Maduro was absolutely essential.”
Washington visit set against continued pressure on Venezuela
Machado’s trip to Washington coincided with U.S. forces in the Caribbean seizing another sanctioned oil tanker the Trump administration said had ties to Venezuela. The seizure was part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of Venezuelan crude sales following Maduro’s arrest. Venezuela’s interim authorities have been cooperating with the Trump administration, according to Leavitt, and Rodríguez’s government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Five Americans were released this week.
Background on Machado
Machado, an industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, began challenging Venezuela’s ruling party in 2004 when she co-founded Súmate, a nongovernmental organization that promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The effort failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
Nearly two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Maduro in the 2024 election. Ruling party-aligned electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary, according to independent observers. Her party is widely believed to have won that election. Machado spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela before traveling to Norway, where her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf at the December ceremony.