Venezuelan opposition leader presents Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump during White House visit

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, presented her award medal to President Donald Trump during a White House meeting Jan. 15.

Machado — who won the prize in October 2025 for promoting “democratic rights” and a “peaceful transition from” in Venezuela — framed the presentation as an expression of gratitude for Trump’s role in supporting Venezuelan freedom following the Jan. 3 capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

“I presented the President of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters after the meeting, calling it “a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

Trump highlighted the gesture on social media, praising Machado as “a wonderful woman who has been through so much” and thanking her for the gift. The White House also released a photo showing Trump holding the framed medal. An accompanying inscription thanked Trump for his “Extraordinary Leadership in Promoting Peace through Strength” and labeled the gesture as a “Personal Symbol of Gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan People.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee later clarified that while the physical medal can change hands, the title of Nobel laureate itself cannot be transferred.

After the closed-door meeting with the President, Machado traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with senators. In remarks to the lawmakers, she described her discussion with Trump as “extraordinary” and said that “January 3 changed the history of our country forever, and for the better,” according to a statement from her spokesperson’s office.

In a statement issued later Jan. 15 and translated by CBS News, Machado said she told Trump that Venezuela is “ready to move forward swiftly and responsibly toward a democratic transition and toward a long-term relationship between the United States and Venezuela — one that is mutually beneficial and puts people at the center.”

She said the two also discussed Edmundo González Urrutia, the opposition figure who challenged Maduro in the disputed 2024 election before fleeing the country. Machado was a key backer of González Urrutia’s candidacy and referred to him as Venezuela’s “President-elect” in her Jan. 15 statement.

According to Reuters, Machado, who fled Venezuela in December, is competing for influence in Washington as various factions position themselves in the post-Maduro landscape. 

The White House has not endorsed Machado or an opposition figure as Venezuela’s next president. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Jan. 15 that Trump was pleased to meet Machado but stood by his “realistic” view that she lacks sufficient domestic support to lead the country in the short term.

The administration has instead signaled support for Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally now serving as acting president. In a Jan. 14 interview with Reuters, Trump said he’d had a “fascinating” talk with Rodriguez earlier in the day and described her as “very good to deal with.”

Reporters pressed Trump Jan. 16 about why his administration has aligned itself with Rodríguez and figures linked to the Maduro regime rather than Machado. In response, Trump invoked the U.S. invasion of Iraq. 

“If you ever remember a place called Iraq, where everybody was fired, every single person — the police, the generals, everybody was fired. And they ended up being ISIS,” he said, referencing the U.S. decision to dismantle Iraq’s governing and security institutions after the 2003 invasion. 

The remark suggested concern that fully excluding all members of Venezuela’s existing power structure could lead to similar instability. Trump has been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq invasion, and many have credited him as a leader against what he has called the “forever wars” and regime-change operations that occurred under the direction of other politicians, including President George W. Bush and Trump’s 2016 opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“But I’ll tell you I had a great meeting yesterday by a person who I have a lot of respect for,” Trump added, referring to Machado. “And she has respect obviously for me and our country.”

Machado’s White House visit came one day after the Senate rejected a war powers resolution that sought to oppose Trump’s authority to carry out further military action in Venezuela. 

As FOX News reported, the measure advanced last week after Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Todd Young of Indiana joined Democrats to force debate. Ahead of the vote, Trump pressured the lawmakers to oppose the resolution, the outlet reported. 

Hawley and Young later withdrew their support. Vice President JD Vance ultimately broke a 50-50 tie on a Republican motion to dismiss the measure, sealing its defeat.

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