Prize for freedom: Venezuela’s Machado shares Nobel moment with Trump

Venezuelan Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado cloaked diplomacy in symbolism as she revealed that she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump during a closed-door meeting at the White House, casting the gesture as a historic echo of shared struggles for liberty between the two nations.

“I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters in Washington, moments after the private encounter, describing the act as one rooted deeply in history and collective memory.

Reaching back across two centuries, Machado recalled an episode from the age of revolutions, when French General Marquis de Lafayette presented Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar with a medal bearing the image of George Washington. In her telling, history had now come full circle.

“Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolívar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal,” she said, “in this case, the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, as recognition of his unique commitment to our freedom”.

The meeting unfolded over lunch in the private dining room of the White House, marking the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Machado. Ahead of the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president was eagerly anticipating what she described as a “good and positive discussion”.

Leavitt hailed Machado as “a remarkable and brave voice for many of the people of Venezuela”, adding that Trump was keen to hear her account of “the realities on the ground” in a country long gripped by political turmoil.

She also noted that the administration has maintained regular contact with Venezuela’s interim leadership under Delcy Rodríguez, describing them as “extremely cooperative”. Leavitt pointed to a $500 million energy agreement and the release of political prisoners — including five Americans — as tangible signs of engagement.

Whether Trump formally accepted the Nobel medal remains uncertain. The Norwegian Nobel Institute has long maintained that once awarded, the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared or revoked.

Machado’s White House visit came amid mixed signals from Trump regarding her political future. Earlier this month, he remarked that it would be “very tough” for her to lead Venezuela, suggesting she lacked sufficient support within the country. At the same time, he has publicly praised Rodríguez, calling her a “terrific person” after a recent phone call — even as lawmakers from both parties continue to press for steadfast US backing of a democratic transition in Venezuela.

From the White House, Machado proceeded to Capitol Hill, where she met US senators in a bipartisan session hosted by Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen.

“María Corina Machado is an extraordinary person,” Durbin said, praising her courage and sacrifice in the fight for change in Venezuela. Shaheen struck a note of caution, warning that “removing a dictator is not the same as restoring democracy”, and urging vigilance against replacing one form of authoritarianism with another.

Across party lines, senators lauded Machado’s resolve and leadership, while some voiced concern over the Trump administration’s evolving posture toward Venezuela following the removal of Nicolás Maduro.

Machado’s US visit followed a private audience earlier this week with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, where she sought his intercession for the release of political prisoners. After spending nearly a year in hiding, she returned to the global stage in December to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, emerging once more as a symbol of defiance, hope and unfinished struggle.

With IANS inputs