President Donald Trump is intending to meet with the Venezuelan opposition leader next week, which will be the first face-to-face encounter between the two political figures.
“Well, I know she’s coming in next week at some point, and I’m looking forward to greeting her,” Trump stated on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Thursday, referring to Machado as a “very nice person.”
It is not yet clear when and where the meeting between the two political figures will take place, nor what they plan to discuss. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But the meeting is set to happen just a couple of weeks after the Trump Administration authorized an aggressive military operation in Venezuela against the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro, after which Trump expressed the hope for a certain individual to become the next Venezuelan leader. It also follows Machado receiving an award which she in turn dedicated to Trump, who had shown interest in it, and that she has since offered to share it with him.
Here’s what to be aware of.
A contentious change in Venezuelan leadership
Following the attack in which U.S. forces took hold of Maduro, Trump said that the U.S. would wait until a “proper and judicious transition” of power occurred.
Many both inside and outside of Venezuela expected that Machado would succeed the deposed leader. But in a controversial move, Trump instead named a person who served as Venezuela’s vice president under Maduro starting in 2018 as the most likely candidate to do so. When asked if Machado could run the country, Trump said last weekend that it would be “very difficult” for her.
“She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect within the country,” he said.
Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president on Monday. While Trump seemed to indicate support for her taking over, he has also warned that “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”
Machado was living in hiding in Venezuela until December, when she fled to Oslo. After Maduro’s capture, she has stated that she plans to return to Venezuela “as soon as possible.”
Speaking with someone earlier this week, she condemned Rodríguez. “Delcy Rodriguez, as you know, is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, and narco trafficking,” Machado said. “She’s the main ally and liaison with Russia, China, Iran, certainly not an individual that could be trusted by international investors. And she’s really rejected, repudiated by the Venezuelan people.”
Machado, for her part, called on opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who ran against Maduro in 2024, to “immediately assume his constitutional mandate and be recognized as Commander in Chief of the National Armed Forces” in a social media post following Maduro’s ouster.
The Nobel Peace Prize
Trump has publicly desired the Nobel Peace Prize and campaigned for the 2025 award. But it was instead given to Machado, whom the Nobel Committee described as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.”
Machado dedicated the award to Trump, expressing her approval for his strikes on boats that the U.S. government alleged were involved in drug trafficking.
And during her appearance on something earlier this week, the opposition leader thanked the U.S. President for his actions in Venezuela and indicated that she wanted to share her Nobel Peace Prize with him.
“Jan. 3 will go down in history as the day justice defeated tyranny,” she said.
Trump said in his Fox News interview on Thursday that he would be glad to accept the award from Machado.
“I’ve heard she wants to do that,” he said regarding Machado sharing the prize with him. “That would be a great honor.”