Trump to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Machado

"US President Donald Trump has invited Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Maria Corina Machado to the White House for a meeting on Thursday, US media reported on Monday evening. It comes after Trump ordered a military operation in Venezuela that saw US forces take authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro back to the US on a series of charges related to drug smuggling."

"Trump has previously sidelined Machado as a possible successor to the ousted Venezuelan leader, instead focusing on talks with Maduro's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. The US president said Machado did not command the necessary support or respect in her home country. The Venezuelan opposition leader had been in hiding for months, making her first appearance in December when she showed up in Oslo to receive her Nobel Peace Prize. She later said she had US assistance in leaving her home country undetected."

"In an attempt to smooth things over with the US president, Machado hinted that she could give Trump her Nobel Peace Prize. Speaking to US Fox News, she said she hadn't yet given him the prize, " But I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people certainly want to, to give it to him and share it with him.""

Donald Trump invited Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to the White House for a meeting following a US operation that removed Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the United States on drug smuggling charges. Trump previously sidelined Machado as a possible successor, preferring talks with Maduro's vice president Delcy Rodriguez and saying Machado lacked necessary domestic support and respect. Machado had been in hiding for months and reappeared in Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, later saying she had US assistance leaving Venezuela undetected. Machado suggested she might give Trump her Nobel Prize, but the Nobel Institute stated prizes cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred.

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