Venezuela's Machado says she presented her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump
during their meeting
[January 16, 2026]
By WILL WEISSERT, JOEY CAPPELLETTI and REGINA GARCIA CANO
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said
she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at
the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to
take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás
Maduro.
The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump,
an honor that he has coveted. Even if it the gesture proves to be purely
symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively
sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of resistance in
Venezuela. He has signaled his willingness to work with acting President
Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s second in command.
“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 later on social media that Machado had left the medal
for him to keep, and he said it was an honor to meet her.
“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 in
his post. “Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
The White House later posted a photo of Machado standing next to Trump
in the Oval Office as he holds the medal in a large frame. A text in the
frame reads, "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.”
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing
democratic rule in Venezuela, giving no timetable on when elections
might be held. Machado indicated that he had provided few specifics on
that front during their discussion.
She did not provide more information on what was said.
‘We can count on President Trump’
After the closed-door meeting, Machado greeted dozens of cheering
supporters waiting for her near the White House gates, stopping to hug
many.
“We can count on President Trump,” she told them without elaborating,
prompting some to briefly chant, “Thank you, Trump.”
Before her visit to Washington, Machado had not been seen in public
since she traveled last month to Norway, where her daughter received the
peace prize on her behalf. She had spent 11 months in hiding in
Venezuela before she appeared in Norway after the ceremony.
The jubilant scene after her meeting with Trump stood in contrast to
political realities in Venezuela. Rodríguez remains in charge of
day-to-day government operations, along with others in Maduro’s inner
circle. In her first state of the union speech Thursday, the interim
president promoted the resumption of diplomatic ties between the
historic adversaries and advocated for opening the state-run oil
industry to more foreign investment after Trump pledged to seize control
of Venezuelan crude sales.
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she
“doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her
party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Machado “a
remarkable and brave voice” but also said the meeting didn’t mean
Trump’s opinion of her changed, calling it “a realistic assessment.”
Leavitt told reporters that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections
“when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
A ‘frank and positive discussion’ about Venezuela
Leavitt said Machado had sought the face-to-face meeting without setting
expectations for what would occur. She spent about two and a half hours
at the White House.
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Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to
supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House
after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026,
in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the
press secretary said while the meeting was still going on, other
than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking
place in Venezuela.”
After leaving the White House, Machado went on to a closed-door
meeting with a bipartisan group of senators.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Machado told them that “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.”
“She reminded us that Delcy Rodríguez is, in many ways, worse than
Maduro,” he added.
Asked if Machado had heard any commitment from the White House on
holding elections in Venezuela, Murphy said, “No, I don’t think she
got any commitment from them."
Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, was exultant following the
meeting, 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.”
Machado's Washington stop coincided with U.S. forces in the
Caribbean Sea seizing another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump
administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader
U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil
after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife less than two weeks
ago at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of
Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug
trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully
cooperating with the Trump administration and noted that Rodríguez's
government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under
Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with
Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
Machado doesn't get the nod from Trump
Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it
would be very tough for her to be the leader.” Machado had steered a
careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the
peace prize, and had sought to cultivate relationships with him and
key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, Machado
began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental
organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall
then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and
other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for
traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush, whom
Chávez considered an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to
reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024
election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him
the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing
anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown.
___
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press
writers Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, Michelle L. Price and Matthew
Lee in Washington, and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to
this report.
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