Trump Meets Machado: A Cold Reception Despite a Nobel Peace Prize Gift
Venezuelan leader Maria Corina Machado met President Trump at the White House on Jan 15, 2026. Discover the details of the Trump Machado White House meeting and the Nobel Prize gift.
A Nobel Peace Prize crossed the table, yet the cameras were nowhere to be found. On January 15, 2026, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado visited the White House for her first face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump. While the occasion followed the dramatic abduction of Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces, the meeting lacked the usual fanfare associated with Trump's high-stakes diplomacy.
The Trump Machado White House Meeting: Behind Closed Doors
According to Al Jazeera, Trump kept the meeting strictly private, shielding it from the press. Machado confirmed she presented Trump with her own Nobel Peace Prize medal, which she won in October 2025. She attempted to forge a bond by recounting a historical anecdote about Simon Bolivar and the Marquis de Lafayette, hoping to secure Trump's decisive support for her claim to the presidency.
I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize... Bolivar since then kept that medal for the rest of his life.
Stability Over Sovereignty in Venezuela
Despite Machado's gestures, Trump hasn't shifted his support away from Delcy Rodriguez, the interim leader he describes as highly cooperative. Trump's dismissive stance toward Machado—previously claiming she lacks internal support—suggests he's prioritizing a partner who can ensure stability under U.S. guidance. Meanwhile, human rights groups like Foro Penal report at least 804 political prisoners remain in Venezuela as the power struggle intensifies.
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