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Maria Corina Machado, whose party is widely believed to have secured victory in the 2024 election controversially claimed by the ousted former president Nicolas Maduro, held a private meeting with Donald Trump earlier today (AEDT).
Machado made her way to the U.S. from an undisclosed location, having left Venezuela the previous year following a brief detention by authorities in Caracas.
Following her discussion with Trump, she took time to engage with supporters gathered near the White House gates.
Addressing the media present, Machado expressed confidence, stating, “We can count on President Trump,” though she remained tight-lipped about the specifics of their conversation.
Later, she met with several senators on Capitol Hill, where she spoke with reporters about a Nobel presentation, highlighting it as a tribute to Trump’s “unique commitment to our freedom.”
Associated Press reported there was no immediate word from the White House as to whether the gift had been accepted.
Trump has previously been dismissive about the idea of Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize coveted by the US president in 2025, leading Venezuela in the wake of US forces kidnapping Maduro to stand trial in New York.
Prior to their meeting, he said she did not have the respect or support inside the country to do so, despite the broad international assessment of her electoral success.
Since Machado left the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, while hailing her as “a remarkable and brave voice”, said Trump’s opinion had not changed.
It was, Leavitt said, “a realistic assessment”.
Trump has also signalled a willingness to engage with interim president Delcy Rodriguez, a Maduro loyalist and his former vice president.
The pair have talked on the phone, with Trump characterising it as a “great conversation” on a wide range of topics.
Rodriguez, for her part, has varied her tone on the US and Trump.
Originally condemning the kidnapping of Maduro and demanding his return, she has since said she is open to diplomacy with the US and may even be willing to open up Venezuela’s nationalised oil industry to foreign investment.