Venezuela’s opposition leader visits Trump with her country’s future, and a Nobel prize, at stake

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lost out on the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, but in a rare confluence of geopolitics and serendipity, he could still end up with the 18-karat gold medal.

María Corina Machado, who won the prize, is expected to visit the White House on Thursday amid speculation that she may offer Trump her prize in thanks for the U.S. military raid that removed Venezuela’s repressive leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Machado is the Venezuelan opposition figure whom the Nobel Prize selection committee chose last year for a prize that has become an obsession for Trump. She was honored for defending democratic rights in the country, a position that forced her into hiding.

After the Jan. 3 U.S. strike, Machado said she should become Venezuela’s new leader, given the support her coalition received in the country’s 2024 elections.

But for now, the Trump administration has kept her out. Trump is instead relying on remnants of the Maduro regime to run the country on a day-to-day basis, backing Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, for the country’s top job. In the hours after the raid, Trump called Machado “a very nice woman” but said she lacked “respect” in the country.

Since then, Trump has not changed his views on Machado’s limitations, a senior White House official said in an interview Wednesday. Venezuela’s interim leadership willingly complied with the Trump administration’s demands and met its expectations, the source added.

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he had spoken to Rodríguez, the acting president, and found her to be a “great person.”

White House officials described Machado’s visit as something she requested and, as a courtesy, Trump granted it.

A certain convergence of interests underlies the next meeting. Everyone has something that the other wants.

Machado hopes to lead a Venezuelan government whose leaders are chosen by the ballot box. For this, she needs Trump to inaugurate a democratic transition.

And Trump wants his peacemaking efforts recognized. He says he deserves not one but several Nobel Prizes for the various wars he says he ended thanks to his intervention.

“President Trump is deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize time and again,” White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a prepared statement. “His direct involvement in major conflicts – leveraging the tools of American military power for our superior consumer market – has brought peace to decades-long wars across the world. However, as the President has said, he doesn’t care about recognition – he’s just about saving lives.”

What Machado intends to do with the prize is above the meeting. The Norwegian Nobel Institute said in a statement last week that the winner was Machado and that this unalterable reality “endures forever.” The prize cannot be shared or transferred, the institute said.

Still, nothing seems to stop Machado from giving Trump her Nobel Prize if that’s what she chooses. After winning the award, she dedicated it to Trump, crediting her support for his Democratic movement.

In an interview last week, Fox News’ Sean Hannity asked her if she offered her prize to Trump.

“This has not happened yet,” she said, adding that the price of peace truly belongs to the Venezuelan people, “who certainly want to give it and share it with them.”

A communications adviser to Machado told NBC News “no comment” when asked if she planned to present her award to Trump during Thursday’s visit.

If Machado offers it, will Trump accept it? It has already taken a luxury plane to Qatar which it plans to use to replace the Boeing 747 known as Air Force One.

“If she wants to give him something, he’s not one to turn down a gift,” a second senior White House official said in an interview Wednesday.

Robert O’Brien, who was White House national security adviser during Trump’s first term, said: “I think it would be great of him to do that. It would certainly be a real sign of good faith and thanks and appreciation for him in getting rid of Maduro and giving her and the opposition a chance. Trump took a big risk in doing that.”

“The Nobel Peace Prize committee said she couldn’t do it, but she could do whatever she wanted,” O’Brien continued. “Are they going to withdraw the money?” (The Peace Prize winner receives approximately $1.2 million, in addition to the gold medal and a certificate.)

A number of world leaders and U.S. lawmakers have formally nominated Trump for the 2026 prize. A five-person commission appointed by the Norwegian parliament will vet the nominees and announce its decision in October.

As Trump does not have a Nobel Prize to his name, his discontent seems to be increasing. He said this month it was an “embarrassment” for Norway not to win the prize.

Such complaints are unlikely to improve his chances, said Marc Nathanson, who was ambassador to Norway during the Biden administration.

“Norwegians are extremely honest and transparent,” he said in an interview. “If you go to a restaurant, even if you’re an ambassador, you have to wait your turn. It’s that type of society.”

Kåre Aas, Norway’s ambassador to the United States from 2013 to 2020, said Trump’s chances of pocketing the prize this year have rather dimmed. He discussed Trump’s threats to acquire Greenland, a territory of Denmark.

“The annexation of Greenland and the threat from European countries does not strengthen President Trump’s chances of getting this award,” Aas said in an interview.

An appropriate response from an American president who Offering the Nobel Prize to someone else would be a graceful refusal, said Lewis Lukens, a senior official at the U.S. Embassy in London during Trump’s first term.

“If it was any other president, they would say, ‘Thank you very much. That’s very kind of you, but this is an award given to you. Please don’t leave it here. It’s yours. I refuse to accept it,'” Lukens said. “But I can totally see Trump saying, ‘Thank you very much. I deserve it and I’m going to keep it.'”

Newt Gingrich, former Republican speaker of the House of Representatives and author of a book called “Understanding Trump,” also expects Trump to accept the award if Machado offers it.

“I suspect she will give it to him, and I suspect he will put it somewhere in the Oval Office,” Gingrich said in an interview. “It’s a Trump decision.”

“Trump is a unique person who has enormous strengths and occasional moments where you wonder, ‘What is going on?'” Gingrich added.

What Trump would do with the gift is another question. Would Machado’s prize stay in the White House? Go to his presidential library, where does the Qatari plane appear after the end of his term?

The Nobel Peace Prize awarded by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 now hangs in the Roosevelt Room, just steps from the Oval Office. It would be an appropriate location for the Machado Prize presentation, O’Brien said.

Gingrich said: “I watch in amazement what happens next.”