Venezuela opposition leader Machado 'presented' Trump with her Nobel

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Thursday said that she "presented" her Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump during a visit to the White House.

"I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize," Machado said after a meeting with Trump on Thursday, saying it was "recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom." The US president had publicly expressed his desire to win the award.

"María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect," Trump said on his Truth Social platform following the meeting.

Trump called Machado a "wonderful woman," saying she "has been through so much."

However, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump still does not see Machado as a promising successor to ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, describing it as a "realistic assessment" based on briefings from his advisers and national security team.

At the time of the press conference, the meeting with Machado had not yet concluded.

Trump had previously said Machado did not have the support and respect in Venezuela needed to lead the country, and the US is currently backing Maduro's vice president Delcy Rodríguez, who has taken over as interim president.

Earlier in January, US forces captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores during a military operation and took them out of the country. Maduro has since been charged in New York with drug offences.

Machado, widely seen by supporters as a leading hope for political change in Venezuela, has praised Trump for the military intervention, despite accusations that the move broke international law.

Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." Her daughter accepted the award on her behalf in December.

When she was told about the award, Machado dedicated it to "the suffering people of Venezuela" and to Trump for his support of the Venezuelan opposition.

According to the Nobel Institute in Oslo, it is not possible to transfer the prize. "A Nobel Prize can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time," the institute said in a statement.