The María Corina Machado Meeting at the White House has Concluded
Upon leaving the White House, María Corina Machado briefly told the press that the meeting went “very well,” but did not reveal whether she presented the Nobel medal to Trump, as had been speculated.
This is a story in progress. Opposition leader María Corina Machado greeted some Venezuelans gathered in front of the presidential residence before boarding a vehicle to go to Congress. The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado concluded this Thursday after more than two hours.
Trump and Machado shared a closed-door lunch, without press access, and afterwards the opposition leader traveled to the US Capitol, where she will meet with senators. Upon leaving the White House, Machado briefly told reporters that the meeting went “very well,” but did not reveal whether she presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, as had been speculated.
The opposition leader greeted some Venezuelans who were gathered in front of the presidential residence before getting into a vehicle to go to the Capitol. She is scheduled to hold a press conference on the steps of the Capitol after her meeting with Republican and Democratic senators. The meeting is the first between Trump and the opposition leader and comes less than two weeks after the U.S. arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise operation in Venezuela, in which his wife, Cilia Flores, was also captured. Both were later transferred to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
So far, the president and his administration have ruled out Machado and her opposition movement for the first stage of Venezuela’s transition, arguing that she lacks the necessary support within the country. Instead, they have backed Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed power as interim president with Trump’s backing. Trump maintains that Venezuela is under Washington’s tutelage.
