Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado might have found the key to swaying the US to place her in leadership in the post-Nicolas Maduro government: handing over her Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump.
Machado has been seeking a meeting with the president after the successful US operation in the early hours of the January 3rd capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores to face narcoterrorism charges.
A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed to the Daily Mail that part of the discussion is Machado offering Trump her Nobel Peace Prize.
Machado accepted the award in Oslo, Norway in December after escaping her safe house in Venezuela wearing a wig.
And Trump has said it would be a ‘great honor’ to accept the Nobel Peace Prize if Machado chose to share it with him – but did not explicitly ask her to hand it over. She did already publicly dedicate the award to the US president, saying he ‘really deserved it’.
Machado was in hiding for 16 months as a target of the Maduro so-called ‘narco-regime,’ and while the meeting with Trump is predicated on her gifting the prize to him, she’s sure to bring up her future in Venezuelan leadership.
Hours after the special forces mission to capture Maduro, Trump announced that the US would ‘run’ the country with former vice president Delcy Rodriguez at the helm.
He also said at Saturday’s press briefing at Mar-a-Lago that Machado wouldn’t be a good leader because she didn’t have the ‘respect’ of the Venezuelan people.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is willing to offer-up her Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump garner favor in her pursuit to take a leadership role in the post-Maduro government
Trump said at his January 3, 2026 briefing that Machado wouldn’t be a good leader because she doesn’t have the ‘respect’ of the Venezuelan people – but reports emerged that he was actually upset because she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize award that he has coveted
‘I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within – or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect,’ Trump said after calling her a ‘very nice woman.’
But sourcing told the Washington Post that the real reason Trump didn’t give her the position was because he didn’t like that she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize – an award he has openly coveted for years.
And Trump confirmed on Thursday that Machado is coming to Washington, DC next week for a sit-down.
‘I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying “hello” to her,’ Trump said. ‘I heard that she wants to do that [with her peace prize] — it would be a great honor,’ he told Fox News personality Sean Hannity.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s wife and Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, whom the president is fond of, is pushing behind-the-scenes to make the meeting happen, Trump associates familiar with the dynamics told journalist Rachael Bade.
A very close advisor to Machado confirmed to the Daily Mail that the opposition leader is listening to Duffy’s advice.
‘When it comes to persuading the president, all the lobbying and special interest money in the world isn’t as powerful as having a program on Fox News,’ they said. ‘Rachel’s coverage of Maria Corina [Machado] and the story of Venezuela has been accurate and outstanding.’
The advisor added: ‘All the corrupt post-Maduro regime special interests are in a full blown panic that MCM’s standing is surging inside the White House.’
Trump says the US is working with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, who was Nicolas Maduro’s vice president
Trump says that he wants the US to ‘run’ Venezuela for at least the next few years, and insists his government, working with industry partners, will now control the extraction and sale of the country’s oil.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller have been tasked with taking the lead on running Venezuela.
Rubio has held at least one call with Rodriguez, Trump confirmed over the weekend.
