Machado Gifts Trump Her Nobel Peace Prize

Outside the Capitol, Machado said that presenting the Nobel medal was intended to recall an event 200 years ago, when the Marquis de Lafayette gave Simón Bolívar a medal bearing George Washington’s likeness. She said Bolívar kept the medal “as a symbol of the connection between the struggle for independence in America and the fundamental values of the United States” and noted that that is what she wanted to emphasize.

Trump’s meeting with Machado comes in the wake of a U.S. military operation early in January that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas.

Just hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump said “it would be very tough” for Machado to be the leader.

“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country,” Trump said at the time. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
Machado was banned from running for president by Venezuela’s Maduro-run Supreme Tribunal of Justice in January 2024.

She went into hiding and was succeeded by Edmundo González Urrutia. In the disputed 2024 election, both the United States and the European Union recognized González as the rightful president-elect.

Machado said in July 2024 that González won the election with 70 percent of the vote and that the results showing Maduro as the winner were fraudulent. Then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed.

“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” Blinken said in a statement at the time.

After being captured by the U.S. military, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transferred to New York City on Jan. 3 and are currently being held in custody. At their first court appearance on Jan. 5, both pleaded not guilty to federal charges that include drug trafficking and collaborating with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro told the court that he is still the president of his country and that he was kidnapped.

Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s deputy, is currently, alongside many members of Maduro’s inner circle, in charge of day-to-day government operations in Venezuela.