Machado Meets Trump Behind Closed Doors as Venezuela’s Power Struggle Deepens

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has travelled to Washington, DC, for a private meeting with United States President Donald Trump, marking their first face-to-face encounter since the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Thursday’s meeting stood out less for what was said than for how quietly it happened. Trump, known for turning Oval Office visits into public spectacles, kept the meeting entirely behind closed doors, with no cameras, no joint appearance, and no immediate readout from the White House.

The low-key approach contrasted sharply with the political stakes. Trump has backed Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, as Venezuela’s interim leader, despite Machado’s insistence that the opposition has a democratic mandate to govern. Rodriguez’s inaugural state of the union address as president took place the same day Machado arrived at the White House, a coincidence that may help explain the muted tone.

Machado, however, appeared upbeat as she emerged from the White House later in the day, stopping along Pennsylvania Avenue to greet supporters and pose for photos. She confirmed that she and Trump had spent several hours together over lunch discussing Venezuela’s future.

She also said she followed through on a symbolic gesture that had drawn attention even before the visit, presenting Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal.

“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters.

As she handed it over, she said she shared a historical anecdote linking Venezuela’s independence struggle to the United States.

“I told him this. Listen to this. Two hundred years ago, General Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington’s face,” Machado said. “Bolivar since then kept that medal for the rest of his life.”

The Nobel Committee has since clarified that the Peace Prize is not transferable and cannot be given away. Machado was awarded the prize in October for her efforts to promote democracy in Venezuela.

“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause,” she wrote at the time.

She later left Venezuela in secret, where she had been living in hiding, to travel to Norway and collect the medal.

The quiet nature of the White House meeting left key questions unanswered. It remains unclear whether Trump’s public support for Rodriguez has shifted, or whether Machado’s visit signals a deeper recalibration of US policy toward Venezuela.