Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presents Nobel medal to Trump despite institute ban
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented President Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, describing it as a historic gesture recognizing his commitment to freedom and the fight against tyranny.
Machado spoke with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday, when she was asked whether she offered her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal … the Nobel Peace Prize, and I told him, ‘Listen to this, 200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simón Bolívar a medal with George Washington’s face on it,” Machado said. “He kept that medal for the rest of his life. Actually, when you see his portraits, you can see the medal.”
She said Lafayette gave the medal to Bolívar as a symbol of the partnership between the people of the U.S. and the people of Venezuela and their shared fight for freedom against tyranny.
TRUMP PLANS TO MEET WITH VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER MARIA CORINA MACHADO NEXT WEEK
“Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolívar are giving back the heir of Washington, a medal, in this case the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom,” Machado said.
Machado’s meeting with Trump came nearly two weeks after the U.S. captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and amid lingering questions about her political future. The meeting also followed comments from Trump casting doubt on Machado leading the country rather than endorsing the Venezuelan opposition leader.
“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump told reporters Jan. 3. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE RECIPIENT MACHADO PLEDGES TO RETURN TO VENEZUELA, SEES ‘ALARMING’ INTERNAL CRACKDOWN
The Washington Post previously reported Trump was annoyed Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, an award he had hoped to receive and that Machado dedicated to him, though the White House said the president’s decisions were based on “realistic decisions.”
Still, Machado floated the idea of transferring the prestigious award to Trump last week during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize?” Sean Hannity asked. “Did that actually happen?”
KRISTI NOEM DELIVERS TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO VENEZUELA’S VICE PRESIDENT FOLLOWING MADURO CAPTURE OPERATION
Machado responded, “Well, it hasn’t happened yet.”
“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 give it to him and share it with him,” Machado continued. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step toward a democratic transition.”
Despite her intent, the Norwegian Nobel Institute shut down the idea last Friday.
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“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others,” the institute said in a statement. “The decision is final and stands for all time.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for a reaction.
Lawmaker who fled communism drafts special resolution honoring Trump after Maduro ouster
EXCLUSIVE: A House lawmaker who fled one Communist dictator will put forward a congressional resolution formally commending President Donald Trump for the humanitarian feat of ousting another, as Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro now sits in a New York prison.
Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., fled Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba as a young boy, telling Fox News Digital what Trump and the U.S. military did without American casualties was “extraordinary.”
“I’m introducing a resolution that congratulates President Trump on his actions and also the way in which the arrest was conducted by law enforcement agents, but also facilitated obviously by the armed forces of the United States,” Gimenez said.
“I think that we should congratulate the president for taking the action, but also our own forces in the manner in which they conduct.”
MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION
Trump’s operation was the largest-scale iteration yet of what is being dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine,” a play on words of the 1823 doctrine of President James Monroe that warned foreign European powers against further colonizing the West.
Trump’s doctrine deems the Western Hemisphere a core security responsibility of the U.S., and the Maduro arrest showed his administration will give teeth to Monroe’s policy and pressure hostile governments directly.
“I don’t think there’s no other way to deal with these narco-terrorists. They’re just not going to give up,” Gimenez said of the “Donroe Doctrine” in action in the Caribbean.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS RIP SENATE WAR POWERS PUSH AS ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ AFTER TRUMP’S VENEZUELA RAID
“There was an arrest warrant. There’s a $50 million bounty on his head, $25 million of which was put on by Joe Biden and his administration. The difference is this president actually did something about it and enforced that arrest warrant and went in and got him. And, so, you know, I find absolutely nothing wrong with what he did.”
Gimenez called it a “seismic event” for the west, adding now other strongman regimes around the world are taking notice.
The resolution itself officially commends Trump, the Armed Forces, the Intel community and DOJ for “remarkable success of ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’” in Caracas.
VANCE SAYS CROCKETT ‘DOESN’T KNOW WHAT SHE’S TALKING ABOUT’ ON VENEZUELA MADURO OPERATION
“Whereas, on January 3, 2026, President Donald J. Trump demonstrated extraordinary political courage by authorizing ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ to apprehend the dictator Nicolás Maduro and dismantle the command structure of the Cártel de los Soles.”
The resolution notes that Maduro and wife Cilia Flores are accused of narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to possess machine guns, all violations of federal law.
“Whereas, in 2024, the regime finalized its transition to full authoritarianism when its controlled Supreme Court ratified a 15-year ban on the leading opposition candidate, María Corina Machado – [and] to maintain his grip on power, the Maduro regime carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings, tortured political opponents, and terrorized the Venezuelan people, fueling the largest displacement crisis in the history of the Western Hemisphere,” Gimenez’ resolution added, delineating why it was so crucial that Trump took action against a geographically proximate threat.
“[Congress] stands in solidarity with the people of Venezuela and supports a rapid, constitutional transition to free and fair elections to restore the democratic institutions dismantled by the Maduro dictatorship.”
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However, Gimenez warned during his interview with Fox News Digital that not all of Congress is onboard with condemning authoritarian or communist regimes like Maduro’s.
“They do have some [defenders]. Believe me, they’re always, they’ve got people here [on Capitol Hill] defending them, and trying to stop the actions that will lead to democracy and freedom in the Western Hemisphere. They come to the aid and to the defense of these indefensible regimes. We have some here in Congress that do that. They’re not a majority, but they’re here.”
US military seizes another fugitive oil tanker linked to Venezuela
The U.S. military has seized another fugitive oil tanker linked to Venezuela in the Caribbean, U.S. Southern Command announced Thursday.
The U.S. has now seized six oil tankers since ramping up a campaign against illicit oil trade by Venezuela.
“In another pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, launched from USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Veronica without incident. The Veronica is the latest tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, proving the effectiveness of Operation Southern Spear yet again,” U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.
“These operations are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale. The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully. The Department of War, in coordination with interagency partners, will defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere,” the statement continued.
TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO PROTECT VENEZUELA OIL REVENUE HELD IN US ACCOUNTS
The operation comes as President Donald Trump is set to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado at the White House on Thursday.
The vessels intercepted so far have been either under U.S. sanctions or part of a “shadow fleet” of unregulated ships that disguise their origins to move oil from major sanctioned producers such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
Trump has said the U.S. will “run” Venezuela after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
TRUMP PLANS TO MEET WITH VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER MARIA CORINA MACHADO NEXT WEEK
Trump told The New York Times in an interview that was published Wednesday that “only time will tell” how long the U.S. will be running the country, but said it would be “much longer” than a year.
Additionally, Trump announced recently that Venezuela would hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. and that the oil would be sold “immediately.”
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump told the Times. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
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Likewise, Trump shared a doctored image that looked like a Wikipedia page that identified him as “Acting President of Venezuela” since January 2026.
Trump to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader after praising ‘terrific’ Maduro loyalist
President Donald Trump is slated to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado at the White House Thursday.
Trump announced Jan. 3 that the U.S. had captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and that the U.S. would be running Venezuela until a safe transition could occur. But instead of endorsing Machado, Trump cast doubt on her abilities to lead the country.
“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump told reporters Jan. 3. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration chose not to support Machado because the U.S. didn’t want to make similar mistakes to the ones it made in the Middle East in Latin America, although he said he had “tremendous admiration” for Machado.
TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET
“But there’s the mission that we are on right now.… A lot of people analyze everything that happens in foreign policy through the lens of Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan,” Rubio said Jan. 4 in an interview with CBS. “This is not the Middle East. This is the Western Hemisphere, and our mission here is very different.”
A classified CIA assessment, which senior policymakers requested and presented to Trump, evaluated who would be the best fit to oversee an interim government in Venezuela following the overthrow of Maduro, a source familiar with the intelligence told Fox News Digital. Ultimately, it was determined that Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would be best situated to lead the country.
Although The Washington Post reported that Trump was annoyed Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 — an award he had hoped to receive and that Machado dedicated to him — the White House claimed Trump’s choices were based on “realistic decisions.”
As a result, Trump has put his support behind Rodríguez who is now serving as interim president. On Wednesday, Trump shared he had a call with Rodríguez, and later described her as a “terrific” person.
“We are making tremendous progress, as we help Venezuela stabilize and recover,” Trump said in a social media post Wednesday.
RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’
“This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL,” Trump said. “Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!”
Specifically, Trump said he and Rodríguez discussed oil, minerals and national security matters. On Jan. 7, Trump announced that Venezuela would provide the U.S. with 50 million barrels of oil that would be sold “immediately.”
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Rodríguez voiced similar sentiments, saying their “courteous” call “addressed a bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our peoples, as well as pending matters between our governments.”
Meanwhile, Machado has praised Trump for his role overthrowing Maduro, and told CBS News that the president and the U.S. have “done much more than anybody thought was possible.”
On Thursday, the White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s previous comments to Reuters, when asked what the president planned to discuss with Machado.
“I think we’re just going to talk,” Trump told Reuters Wednesday. “And I haven’t met her. She’s a very nice woman. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”
TALARICO, AUCHINCLOSS: Trump’s blood for oil strategy is as reckless as it is illegal
The president is pitching blood for oil in Venezuela. It’s a dangerous mission, a corrupt deal and a lawless precedent. Congress must stop this recklessness before it costs the lives of American troops.
One of us is a congressman who commanded Marines in jungle training in Latin America. The other is a state representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate out of Texas, the biggest oil producer in the country. We’re both members of Majority Democrats, a group of elected leaders dedicated to rebuilding trust with the exhausted majority of Americans. Whether seen from the perspective of the military or the Texas middle class, we agree: Republicans in Congress are failing to provide a check and balance on warmongering.
The president’s strikes against Venezuela have left in place the gangsters running the country, but put them on notice that their oil is now his. To take it, President Donald Trump has made clear that he wants U.S. oil majors to start rebuilding Venezuela’s derelict energy infrastructure. That’s expensive and hazardous.
Chevron and the rest will want serious support from the U.S. government. For starters, their personnel and assets require security. Pro-Chavismo Venezuelan forces, leftist Colombian terrorists and transnational criminal organizations are all threats. This is why the president refused to rule out American boots on the ground. He may need troops to serve as armed guards for oil extraction.
MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION
The enemies awaiting Americans deployed to Venezuela have spent their whole lives traversing its jungles and rivers. The U.S. military, by contrast, has trained two generations in patrolling and close-air-support that presumes long line of sight, not dense canopy. Jungle warfare would be a new and nasty mission.
Make no mistake: our Marines, soldiers and sailors would complete that mission. They are the finest fighting force in the world. But they would be fighting for oil money for the rich – not for democracy, drug interdiction or a better future for Venezuelans. Hit by raids, cut off from fire support, infected by malaria — all in the service of crony capitalism.
Last year, Trump promised oil executives “a great deal” if they donated $1 billion to his campaign. He is now offering them 300 billion barrels of oil. It won’t make gas any cheaper for Americans this decade. Projections for 500,000 extra daily barrels would not make a price dent in a market where 100+ million barrels are sold daily. It also won’t bring jobs to Texas, where Chevron just laid off 200 workers in Midland.
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Chevron executives and other administration allies, though, stand to gain power and wealth from controlling the world’s largest oil reserve. As with tariffs, AI and his tax cuts for the wealthy, the president is once again pursuing policies that further consolidate wealth and power.
He’s also, once again, breaking the law. The attacks on Venezuela are illegal. The president claims he is only using the military to support law enforcement in executing an indictment. Hard to take that claim seriously from a man who had U.S. soldiers on their knees to roll out a red carpet for the war criminal Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
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Apart from its risibility, though, the claim is bogus. Absent an imminent threat to the homeland, the president needs congressional authorization to use military force. There is no threat from Venezuela too pressing or existential to deliberate upon in Congress. If the president were concerned about drugs (He’s not.), he could get tough on Chinese fentanyl exports (He hasn’t.).
Neither party should accept the precedent that a commander-in-chief can bomb cities and capture foreign leaders without so much as a phone call to Congress. It’s a recipe for more military adventurism, more blood and treasure sunk by poor planning. Indeed, the president is already jawboning about Cuba, Greenland and Colombia. Republicans in Congress must stop acting like sheep. Neither our military nor our economy would benefit from open-ended deployment to Venezuela.
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Socialism cost me my country. Trump arresting Maduro might help us get it back
I never thought I’d see the man who destroyed my family’s life in handcuffs. But that’s exactly what happened when American forces recently captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife. “Trump is doing it!” my mother told me through tears over the phone. I never heard her happier. I was in shock. I stared at my phone, scrolling through videos and breaking news on X — my mother was right.
When I was growing up in Venezuela, I suffered alongside my parents who were forced to close our cosmetics business thanks to socialist government price controls. My parents made sacrifices and didn’t eat so I could.
Those experiences inspired me to become a college campus activist in Venezuela against Maduro’s regime. I spoke out and promoted the truth about capitalism and liberty. I was soon expelled from school, labeled a terrorist and threatened with prison time.
TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET
My cousin had already been jailed for his activism, and my family did not want the same for me. So we fled seeking political asylum in America.
It saved my life. America gave me a future of freedom and opportunity. And now, thanks to President Donald Trump, I have witnessed a measure of justice I never imagined possible.
My family and friends still in Venezuela are overjoyed. Perhaps there are no people more grateful for America’s president right now than Venezuelans.
Even though many of my friends and family in Venezuela are celebrating, they must do so quietly. Maduro has fallen, but his regime remains in power. Those who celebrate in the streets or post online still risk punishment and prison. This is not a happy ending for Venezuela, but a new beginning.
MIKE PENCE: VENEZUELA HAS A CHANCE FOR FREEDOM, THANKS TO TRUMP AND OUR ARMED FORCES
What happens now is uncertain, and many wonder whether Venezuela will become another Iraq or Afghanistan.
But Venezuela is not a tribal country defined by sectarian violence. It is a Western nation with a long democratic tradition prior to Hugo Chávez, a shared language and a deeply Christian culture — more than 90% identify as such. This is not a country divided over whether tyranny is acceptable — it is a country that has been held hostage by force.
María Corina Machado — the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the democratic opposition — has not yet assumed power. That’s because Machado has the support of the Venezuelan people, but not control of the military. Venezuela’s armed outfits are now, and have been for some time, a vast criminal enterprise loyal to cartels. That’s why President Trump, rather than pretending the regime collapsed overnight, is establishing a process — what Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as stabilization, recovery and transition.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS US WILL SHAPE VENEZUELA’S FUTURE AS TRUMP EMBRACES ‘AMERICAN DOMINANCE’
Do Venezuelans trust current leader Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president? No. She helped build the machinery of repression that terrorized the country. But she understands something Maduro did not: Trump is deadly serious.
Maduro challenged Trump. He is now sitting in a New York jail cell. The regime has never been weaker.
If Rodríguez is cooperating — as the Trump administration suggests — it may already be creating fractures within the regime. Figures like Diosdado Cabello and Vladimir Padrino López built their power on violence, not compromise. That internal tension matters.
RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’
This moment is fragile. Multiple outcomes are possible — internal splits, renewed repression, cooperation or a negotiated transition. But one thing is undeniable: Venezuela — and the world — are better off with Nicolás Maduro behind bars.
Maduro was not a president — his elections were scams. He was a fugitive who was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020 for narco-terrorism. Venezuela’s alliances with bad actors like China, Russia, Cuba and Iran continue to wreak havoc on America, and the world. But now, a major player is finally behind bars.
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Yet, too many in America are actually condemning the capture of a socialist dictator. Protesters outside the detention center demand Maduro’s release. They ironically praise his regime, apparently without realizing they would never be able to protest in Maduro’s Venezuela without being arrested.
Still others absurdly suggest Maduro is a conservative Christian leader.
The same Maduro used Venezuela’s so-called “Anti-Hate Speech Law” to persecute Catholics who dared criticize his regime. He publicly insulted clergy, calling priests “devils in cassocks,” and even ordered investigations against them.
Venezuela’s Catholic shepherds remained undeterred and repeatedly condemned Maduro’s Marxist socialism. They have warned it “threatens freedom and the rights of persons and associations and has led to oppression and ruin in every country where it has been tried.”
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Freedom is an exception, not the norm. And America is unique in its commitment to liberty. Venezuela didn’t become a dictatorship overnight. It happened gradually with promises of fairness, more government control sold as compassion and the suppression of dissent. By the time people realized what they had lost, it was already too late.
I fled socialism to survive. And I urge Americans to avoid learning these lessons the hard way. Because I understand how easy it is to lose freedom — and how rare it is to get it back.
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