Washington — Venezuelan opposition chief María Corina Machado introduced President Trump along with her actual Nobel Peace Prize medallion throughout her go to to the White Home on Thursday, two White Home officers instructed CBS Information, and later on the Capitol, Machado confirmed she had achieved so.
The medallion, which was not a reproduction, the sources mentioned, was introduced after Machado supplied to share her Nobel Prize with him for what she mentioned was his “historic” motion of eradicating former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from energy.
Machado instructed senators on Capitol Hill she had an “extraordinary” assembly with Mr. Trump, in line with a publish from her spokesperson’s workplace translated into English.
Machado instructed reporters on Capitol Hill that she had introduced Mr. Trump with the medal, and he or she steered that in doing so, she was finishing a sort of reciprocal gesture.
She mentioned she instructed him, “2 hundred years in the past, Common Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington’s face [on] it. Bolivar…saved that medal for the remainder of his life.” She added, “While you see his portraits, you possibly can see the medal there, and it was given by Common Lafayette as an indication of the brotherhood between america, individuals of United States, and the individuals of Venezuela of their struggle for freedom towards tyranny.” Now, 200 years later, “the individuals of Bolivar are giving again to the inheritor of Washington a medal — on this case, a medal of the Nobel Peace Prize — as a recognition of his distinctive dedication with our freedom.”
Machado had floated the potential for sharing the prize with Mr. Trump earlier this month. The president has not divulged particulars of their dialog.
“I actually would love to have the ability to personally inform him that we imagine — the Venezuelan individuals, as a result of this can be a prize of the Venezuelan individuals — actually need to, to present it to him and share it with him,” Machado instructed Fox Information host Sean Hannity. “What he has achieved is historic. It is an enormous step in direction of a democratic transition.”
After Machado’s supply to share the prize with the president, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes clarified it can’t be shared or transferred. The Nobel Peace Middle additionally mentioned Thursday, “A medal can change house owners, however the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate can’t.”
Machado was awarded the prize for being a “key, unifying determine in a political opposition that was as soon as deeply divided — an opposition that discovered widespread floor within the demand without cost elections and consultant authorities.”
The Trump administration has mentioned little a couple of democratic transition in Venezuela. The nation’s interim president is Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vp. Mr. Trump spoke Wednesday with Rodríguez, calling her a “terrific individual.”
Mr. Trump has not endorsed Machado to be Venezuela’s subsequent president, as some thought he would possibly after Maduro’s arrest, regardless of the popularity she’s obtained for her efforts to revive democracy to the struggling nation. He has mentioned he thinks it could be “powerful” for Machado to guide Venezuela as a result of “she does not have the help inside — or the respect inside — the nation.”
However Machado, requested in a latest interview by “CBS Night Information” anchor Tony Dokoupil if she believes she is the correct individual to guide Venezuela within the first chapter of its post-Maduro future, mentioned that “the individuals of Venezuela have already chosen,” including that her coalition is “prepared and keen to serve our individuals, as we’ve been mandated.”
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned Thursday the president “was wanting ahead to this assembly and he was anticipating it to be a superb and optimistic dialogue with Miss Machado, who can be a exceptional and courageous voice for many individuals of the individuals of Venezuela.”
As for the president’s evaluation that it could be exhausting for her to guide Venezuela as a result of, in his phrases, she lacks the help, Leavitt mentioned “at this second in time, his opinion on that matter has not modified.”
Venezuelan opposition chief Maria Corina Machado walks on the day of a gathering with U.S. President Donald Trump on the White Home in Washington, D.C., January 15, 2026.
Kylie Cooper / REUTERS
On Thursday morning, the Pentagon confirmed the seizure of yet one more oil tanker within the Caribbean, no less than the sixth such seizure of a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil.
The U.S. formally started promoting Venezuelan oil this week. The primary U.S. sale of Venezuelan oil, valued at $500 million, has been accomplished, an administration official mentioned Wednesday. Mr. Trump says the U.S. shall be promoting as much as 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, if no more.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned Thursday on Newsmax that the funds will possible begin shifting again to Venezuela as quickly as Friday.
Alan He
contributed to this report.