WASHINGTON — President Donald Trumpis expected to meetwith Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado at the White House on Thursday, according to a senior White House official.
"She's going to come in and pay her regards to our country, really to me, but you know, I'm a representative of the country, nothing else," Trump said Friday about Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
Asked if he would change his view about Machado potentially running Venezuela if she decides to give Trump her Nobel prize, he said, "I will have to speak to her. I think it's very nice that she wants to come in, and that's what I understand. The reason is because Norway is very embarrassed by what took place."
He added, "I can't think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me."
During a recent interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Machado was asked if it was true that she offered her prize to Trump. "Well, it hasn't happened yet."
The Norwegian Nobel Institute, however, said Friday that the Nobel Peace Prizecan't be transferred, shared or revoked.
Trump has been vying for the Nobel Peace Prize for months, repeatedly touting the peace deals and ceasefires he's helped facilitate during his second term as president. After it wasawarded to Machadolast October, Trump's White House communications director Steven Cheung said the Nobel Committee placed "politics over peace." Machado dedicated the prize to "suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause."
The meeting between Trump and Machado will come less than two weeks after the U.S. launched strikes and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, taking them to New York to face federal charges. After the operation, Trumpannouncedthat the U.S. would govern Venezuela until a "proper transition" takes place.
Trump told reporters after Maduro's capture that it would be "very tough" for Machado to lead Venezuela. "She doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect."
Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as president but it's not yet clear whether she'll govern her country long-term.
For her part, Machado celebrated Maduro's capture, saying in a statement, "Venezuelans, the hour of freedom has arrived."
The administration's policy and next steps in Venezuela will be overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, NBC Newsreportedin early January.
