US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he expects to meet Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado in Washington next week, suggesting an upcoming first-ever meeting with the Nobel Peace Prize winner amid dramatic political shifts in Venezuela’s leadership.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump confirmed Machado’s visit and said he looks forward to greeting her.
“I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump told Fox News.
The meeting would be the first between the US president and Machado and comes just over a week after US forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife and brought them to New York to face trial on drug and weapons charges.
Trump previously questioned Machado’s domestic backing, saying she lacked the “respect or support within Venezuela to lead the country.” He also suggested that Venezuela isn’t yet ready for elections, arguing the country needs extensive rebuilding first.
“We have to rebuild the country. They couldn’t have an election,” Trump said, adding, “They wouldn’t even know how to have an election right now.”
Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her opposition to authoritarian rule and has publicly aligned with Trump’s efforts in Venezuela, has indicated she might offer the Nobel Prize to the US president, an idea Trump said would be a “great honor.”
“I understand she wants to do that. That would be a great honor,” Trump said.
The announcement of the planned meeting highlights evolving US–Venezuelan relations and a continued focus on political transition and reconstruction in the region following Maduro’s removal.
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