Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado met President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to talk about the future of Venezuela, even as Trump questioned her credibility to take over after the daring US military operation “Absolute Resolve” that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.
She told reporters the meeting was “great” after leaving the White House around 2:40 p.m. (local time), according to Reuters. The lunch meeting was their first face-to-face meeting.
What did the White House say?
Trump expected a “good and positive discussion” with Machado, who “is a truly remarkable and brave voice for many people in Venezuela,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters, according to the AP.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt added that Trump supports holding new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right,” though she did not specify when she expects that to happen.
Leavitt explained that Machado asked for a one-on-one meeting without setting expectations about the outcome. “I don’t think she needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado,” the press secretary said, other than “an honest and positive discussion about what’s happening in Venezuela.”
Trump said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “has no support or respect in the country.” Her party is widely seen as the winner of the 2024 elections, which Maduro rejected. She has previously offered to share her Nobel Peace Prize, which she won last year, with Trump, an award he has long coveted.
Meanwhile, after the meeting at the White House, Machado is scheduled to meet with members of the Senate. Her trip to Washington followed the US seizure of another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, which the Trump administration said had links to Venezuela.
The move is part of a broader U.S. effort to control Venezuelan oil after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife in a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking charges.
White House spokeswoman Leavitt said Venezuela’s interim authorities are cooperating fully with the Trump administration, and the Rodríguez government has announced plans to release more prisoners held under Maduro, including five Americans, this week.
Rodríguez has reportedly taken a less confrontational stance toward Trump than in the immediate aftermath of Maduro’s ouster, suggesting she believes the Republican administration’s “America First” policy toward the Western Hemisphere may work for Venezuela, at least for now.
Trump said Wednesday he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro’s ouster. “We had a call, a long call. We talked about a lot of things. And I think we get along very well with Venezuela,” Trump said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office.
