Photo: Machado / Screenshot
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado arrived on Thursday at the White House for a scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump, just weeks after U.S. military forces arrested Nicolas Maduro and seized control of the country.
“I know the president was looking forward to this meeting and he was expecting it to be a good and positive discussion with Ms. Machado, who is really a remarkable and brave voice for many of the people in Venezuela,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a press briefing.
Currently, Venezuela’s government operations are being supervised by members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, most notably Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The leader of Venezuela, at this time, is Delcy Rodriguez, formerly the vice president.
Ms. Leavitt continued, “As for Ms. Rodriguez, the president did speak with her directly this week, as you know…Secretary Rubio and the administration have been in constant communication with Ms. Rodriguez and other members of the interim government of Venezuela. They have been extremely cooperative. They have thus far met all of the demands and requests of the United States.”
The somewhat unknown political future of Venezuela has given way to tremendous speculation about the long-term stability of the country.
As reported by RSBN, Machado previously accepted her Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 and dedicated it to the “suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause.”
Some have speculated that Machado could be the next potential leader of Venezuela, but for the time being, it appears that the Trump administration is attempting to maintain a streamlined approach to running the country, avoiding a power vacuum in the wake of Maduro’s arrest by allowing Rodriguez to fill the leadership role.
At this time, President Trump has not publicly thrown his support behind Machado. In fact, when asked about Machado’s potential to lead Venezuela during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on January 3, the president indicated just the opposite.
“I think it’d be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect,” he said.