Trump to Meet With Venezuela's Machado Next Week at WH

President Donald Trump on Friday confirmed that Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado is expected to visit the White House next week, saying he looks forward to meeting her and hearing her views on Venezuela's future.

Trump was speaking to reporters after meeting with executives from 14 oil companies about their commitment of $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela's tattered oil industry. His comments aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform.

Trump said Machado's visit, likely Tuesday or Wednesday, has not been formally scheduled but that he understands she will be in the U.S. soon to "pay her regards" to him and, by extension, the country.

"We're dealing with the people from Venezuela. We're dealing with them very well," Trump said. "I think they've been very smart in the way they've dealt with us, frankly, because that whole place could have been obliterated with one more strike, and we didn't want to do that."

Machado, a longtime critic of the former regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro and a central figure in the Venezuelan opposition, won the Nobel Peace Prize in October for her efforts promoting democratic rights and a peaceful transition in her country.

She dedicated the award to the Venezuelan people and cited Trump's support for her cause.

After U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a daring raid Jan. 3 in Caracas, Trump questioned Machado's viability as a national leader, saying it would be "very tough for her" because she lacks "the support" and "respect within the country," though he called her "a very nice woman."

Machado has tried to ingratiate herself to Trump and earlier this week offered to give him her Nobel Peace Prize, an award that Trump has long coveted.

Trump said he "has to speak to her" about Machado's views and potential role in Venezuela's transition, noting that he will determine his position after the meeting.

When asked whether receiving Machado's Nobel Peace Prize might affect his view of her leadership prospects, Trump said it will depend on their conversation.

"I'm honored that she's coming here," he said. "I look forward to meeting her."

Trump also reflected at length on his own record with international conflicts, saying he ended or resolved several long-running disputes — a point he has frequently made.

He asserted that Nobel Prizes should reflect substantive accomplishments in peacekeeping and compared his approach to past laureates.

"But I don't care about that," Trump said. "What I care about is saving lives. I've saved tens of millions of lives."

Machado's upcoming visit comes at a politically sensitive time for Venezuela and U.S.-Venezuela relations.

The U.S. and its allies remain engaged in diplomatic efforts to stabilize Venezuela after the capture of Maduro. Machado called the operation a significant step toward freedom for her country's people and has advocated for democratic governance.

"The brave people of Venezuela took to the streets in 30 countries and 130 cities around the world to celebrate a huge step that marks the inevitability and imminence of the transition in Venezuela," Machado wrote Jan. 5 on X. "We Venezuelans thank President Donald Trump (@POTUS) and his administration for their firmness and determination in upholding the law.

"Venezuela will be the main ally of the United States in matters of security, energy, democracy, and human rights."

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