Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she delivered her Nobel Peace Prize medal to U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House on Thursday, even after Trump had publicly questioned her credibility to lead Venezuela after a U.S. operation that ousted then-president Nicolás Maduro.
Machado said she presented “la medalla, el Premio Nobel de la Paz” to Trump and that she did so as “un reconocimiento por su compromiso único con nuestra libertad.” She spoke to reporters after leaving the White House and going to the Capitol, according to The Associated Press.
The Nobel Institute said Machado could not give her Nobel prize to Trump, an honor Trump has “codicia,” the AP reported. The AP also described the gesture as notable because Trump has marginalized Machado, who has long been a key face of the opposition in Venezuela.
Later, Trump confirmed on social media that Machado had left the medal for him to keep, and said it was an honor to meet her. In the post cited by the AP, Trump called Machado “una mujer maravillosa que ha pasado por mucho” and said she delivered her Nobel Peace Prize to him “por el trabajo que he hecho.” Trump also thanked Machado, describing the exchange as “un gesto tan maravilloso de respeto mutuo.”
The White House subsequently published a photo of Machado with Trump in the Oval Office, showing Trump holding the medal in a framed display. The AP said the text in the frame described the medal as “Entregada como un símbolo personal de gratitud en nombre del pueblo venezolano en reconocimiento a la acción decidida y basada en principios del presidente Trump para garantizar una Venezuela libre.”
Despite the symbolic exchange, Trump has raised questions about whether Machado could lead, saying she “no tiene el apoyo ni el respeto dentro del país.” The AP reported that Machado told reporters Trump provided few details about when elections in Venezuela could be held, following Trump’s public statements that he would take control of Venezuelan crude oil sales.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described Machado as “una voz notable y valiente,” but the AP reported that she also said the meeting did not mean Trump’s view of Machado had changed. Leavitt called it “una evaluación realista,” and told reporters that Trump supports new elections in Venezuela only “cuando sea el momento adecuado,” without specifying a timeline. Leavitt said Machado requested the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations, and that it lasted about two and a half hours.
After leaving the White House, Machado met privately with a bipartisan group of senators, the AP reported. Senator Chris Murphy said Machado warned that if there is not real progress toward a power transition and/or elections in the coming months, senators should be concerned, and that Machado added that Delcy Rodríguez is, in many ways, worse than Maduro. Murphy later said he did not think Machado had received any election commitment from the White House.
Republican Senator Bernie Moreno said he was pleased after the meeting, and the AP reported that he described Machado’s message as emphasizing that Trump’s actions to remove Maduro were essential. After the private meetings, Machado also greeted supporters near the White House and told them, “Contamos con el presidente Trump,” after which some briefly chanted “Gracias Trump.”
Machado’s trip to Washington followed time away from public view, including travel to Norway in connection with a peace award ceremony held for her daughter, the AP reported. The AP said Machado had spent 11 months hidden in Venezuela before appearing in Oslo after the ceremony.
The meeting also coincided with ongoing U.S. actions tied to Venezuela’s oil sector and with prisoner-release discussions. The AP reported that Leavitt said Venezuela’s interim authorities have been cooperating with the Trump government and that Rodríguez’s government planned to release additional prisoners detained under Maduro, and said five Americans were among those released this week. The AP further reported that Trump said on Wednesday he had a “gran conversación” with Rodríguez, his first conversation with her since Maduro was overthrown.
In background, the AP said Machado began challenging Venezuela’s ruling party in 2004 after Súmate, a nonprofit she co-founded, promoted a referendum to revoke then-President Hugo Chávez. The AP reported that the referendum failed and that Machado and other Súmate executives were accused of conspiracy, later saying Machado also drew Chávez’s ire by traveling to Washington in the period when Chávez regarded the U.S. president at the time as an adversary.