President Donald Trump said he plans on meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado next week — and is ready to take up her latest offer.
During an interview with Fox News earlier this week, Machado heaped praise on Trump following the U.S. military operation in Venezuela that captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife. She went as far as to offer the U.S. president her Nobel Peace Prize, which she was awarded in October and even dedicated to him at the time.
“Because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people, [we] certainly want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told host Sean Hannity on Monday. “What he has done, as I said, is historic.”
Trump — who has long sought the prestigious prize — told Fox News that it “would be a great honor” if Machado decides to give the award to him. But he didn’t stop there.
“I’ve stopped eight wars, and I think, you know, it’s been a major embarrassment to Norway,” Trump said in comments late Thursday. “Now, I don’t know what Norway has to do with it, but that’s where the committee is located. A lot of Norwegian people.”
“But when you put out eight wars, in theory, you should get one for each war,” he went on to add, repeating a claim that has been disputed, though backed by several world leaders.
Trump has publicly lobbied for the prize in recent months, calling it a “big insult” to the United States in September if he was not awarded it.
However, his campaign for the accolade was set back after the Nobel Prize Committee announced Machado as the 2025 recipient, citing her work in promoting democratic rights and “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
The decision from the committee prompted swift outrage from several of the president’s supporters and allies, many of whom argued that his efforts in securing a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas should have been worthy of last year’s recognition.
Although his efforts did not result in a personal victory, Machado had applauded Trump while addressing the recognition.
“We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy,” Machado wrote on X in October. “I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”
In later remarks to reporters, Trump said he spoke with Machado, calling her “very nice.”
“The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me and said, ‘I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it,’” Trump said, adding, “A very nice thing to do. I didn’t, I didn’t say, ‘Then give it to me,’ though I think she might have.”
During her recent interview, Machado said she had not spoken to Trump since becoming the recipient. He told NBC News in an interview released Monday that Machado — who won the opposition primary two years ago but was prohibited from running in the general election by Maduro — “should not have won” the award.
After his extradition of Maduro to New York, where he is facing narco-terrorism charges among others, Trump also said “it would be very tough” for Machado to lead Venezuela.
“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country,” he said on Saturday, the same day of the raid. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
Machado, meanwhile, has maintained that she will win the presidency by a large margin if elections are held.
