Trump to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Machado on Thursday | US-Venezuela Tensions News

The Venezuelan opposition figure has been largely frozen out of US discussions over the country’s future.

United States President Donald Trump will meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Thursday, according to White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.

The Venezuelan opposition figure has played little role in debates about the country’s future since the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, with Trump expressing doubt that she has the support necessary to govern Venezuela. Machado said last week that she had not spoken to Trump since October.

Instead, Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, has assumed the role of interim president under the threat of further military attacks if her government does not submit to US demands on a range of issues.

The Venezuelan government said on Monday that it had freed dozens of political prisoners, some of whom were jailed during protests against Maduro following the disputed 2024 election.

“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump said of Machado after Maduro’s abduction. “She doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 that Trump had sought for himself, met with Pope Leo XIV on Monday.

“Today I had the blessing and honour of being able to share with His Holiness and express our gratitude for his continued support of what is happening in our country,” Machado said in a statement.

“I also conveyed to him the strength of the Venezuelan people who remain steadfast and in prayer for the freedom of Venezuela, and I asked him to intercede for all Venezuelans who remain kidnapped and disappeared,” she added.

Pope Leo has said that Venezuela must remain an independent country following the US attack, stating that he is following developments there with “deep concern”.

“The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration,” said Leo. “This must lead to the overcoming of violence, and to the pursuit of paths of justice and peace.”

Machado has sought to cultivate close ties with the Trump administration, dedicating her Nobel Prize to Trump and, more recently, stating that she would like to share the prize or give it to him outright.

“I do want to say – on behalf of the Venezuelan people – how grateful we are for his [Trump’s] courageous vision, the historical actions he has taken against this narcoterrorist regime, to dismantle this structure and bring Maduro to justice,” Machado said last week in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute said in a statement last week that the peace prize cannot be revoked, transferred, or shared, declaring that “the decision is final and stands for all time”.