WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during a meeting with him at the White House on Thursday, “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Machado did not provide further details, however, and the White House didn't immediately say if Trump accepted the medal, or provide more clarity.
The Nobel Institute, which awarded the prize, had said Machado couldn't give it to Trump. The White House said before the meeting that, if she tried to do that, whether he accepted it would be entirely up to Trump.
Even if it was just symbolic, however, Machado's gesture was extraordinary given that Trump has dismissed Machado's credibility to take over leadership of Venezuela after an audacious U.S. military raid that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Visiting Trump presented something of a physical risk for Machado, whose whereabouts have been largely unknown since she left her country last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. Nevertheless, after a closed-door discussion with Trump, she greeted dozens of cheering supporters waiting for her near the gates —stopping to hug many.
“We can count on President Trump,” she told them, prompting some to briefly chant “Thank you, Trump,” but she didn't elaborate.
Trump hasn't commented on the meeting. But the jubilant scene stood in contrast to Trump having repeatedly raised doubts about Machado and his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela. He has signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2.
Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and delivered her first state of the union speech during Machado's Washington trip.
In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. That's despite Machado seeking to cultivate relationships with the president and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government and some of its top conservatives.
While Trump and Machado's meeting was still going on, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Venezuela's opposition leader “a remarkable and brave voice," but also said that the meeting didn't mean Trump's opinion of her changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."
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.
Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
Trump administration plays down meeting expectations
Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
All told, Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias." It wasn't clear she'd heard the question as she hugged and her waiting supporters.
Machado also went to Capitol Hill, for a closed-door meeting with a bipartisan group of senators. She detailed having presented Trump with the medal in comments to reporters outside the Capitol.
Her Washington stop began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized 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 seized Maduro and his wife 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 that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
Machado doesn't get the nod from Trump
Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump and had offered to share the honor with him prior to Thursday.
Machado remained in hiding even after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. She missed the ceremony but briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the award on her behalf.
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. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush 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 by state security forces.
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Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press writer Megan Janetsky in Mexico City and AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.