What to Expect From the First Meeting Between Trump and Venezuelan Opposition Leader Machado
It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two political figures.
President Donald Trump is planning to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado next week in what will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two political figures.
“Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Thursday, calling Machado a “very nice person.”
It is not yet clear when and where the meeting between the two political figures will take place, or what they plan to discuss. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more: What’s Happening With the U.S. and Venezuela, Explained
But the meeting is set to occur just a couple weeks after the Trump Administration authorized an aggressive military operation in Venezuela to capture the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro, after which Trump declined to back Machado to become the next Venezuelan leader. It also follows Machado’s receipt of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize—an award she in turn dedicated to Trump, who had openly campaigned for it, and that she has since offered to share it with him.
Here’s what to know.
A contentious shift in Venezuelan leadership
Following the attack in which U.S. forces seized Maduro, Trump said that the U.S. would “run the country” until a “proper and judicious transition” of power occurred.
Many both within and beyond Venezuela expected that Machado would succeed the deposed leader. But in a controversial move, Trump instead named Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Venezuela’s vice president under Maduro beginning in 2018, as the most likely candidate to do so. Asked if Machado could run the country, Trump said last weekend that it would be “very tough” for her.
“She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect within the country,” he said.
Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president on Monday. While Trump appeared to indicate support for her taking over, he has also warned that “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”