President Donald Trump expressed deep gratitude after Venezuelan firebrand Maria Corina Machado bestowed upon him her Nobel Peace Prize medal during a discreet White House luncheon. The opposition leader’s gesture, made in a private setting, prompted Trump to laud the meeting on X as ‘a tremendous honor’ and spotlight Machado’s resilience.
In his post, Trump gushed: ‘Met the phenomenal Maria Corina Machado from Venezuela today. She’s been through hell and back. Honored that she gave me her Nobel Peace Prize for my work – true mutual admiration.’ Their inaugural meeting underscored America’s renewed focus on Venezuela’s turmoil.
Machado contextualized the act historically for journalists, referencing French General Lafayette’s gift to Simon Bolivar of a George Washington medal two centuries prior. ‘Bolivar kept it close always. Now, his descendants return a medal – our Nobel Peace Prize – to Washington’s lineage, saluting their freedom pledge,’ she articulated.
Post-White House, Machado joined a bipartisan Capitol Hill huddle orchestrated by Senate Whip Dick Durbin and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Durbin hailed her: ‘She’s exceptional and Nobel-worthy for endangering herself to reshape Venezuela’s regime and society.’
Shaheen issued a stark reminder: ‘Dismantling dictatorship demands more than Maduro’s exit. The US must prevent a new strongman from emerging.’ While praising Machado’s bravery across aisles, some senators took swipes at Trump-era Venezuela tactics.
Machado’s itinerary included a recent Vatican rendezvous with Pope Leo XIV advocating for political detainees’ freedom. Her emergence after 11 months in seclusion for the Nobel ceremony in Norway marks a defiant stand against oppression.