Venezuelan opposition leader Machado meets Trump in Washington two weeks after Nicolas Maduro's capture

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to talk about Venezuela’s future, despite Trump having questioned her credibility to assume leadership following a bold US military operation "Absolute Resolve" that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

She told reporters the meeting was “great” after departing the White House around 2:40 pm (local time), as per Reuters. The lunch meeting was their first face-to-face encounter.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt added that Trump supports holding new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right,” though she did not specify when he expects that to happen.

Leavitt explained that Machado requested the face-to-face meeting without establishing expectations for the outcome. “I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”

Trump stated that it would be challenging for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won the 2024 elections that were rejected by Maduro. She had previously offered to share her Nobel Peace Prize, which she won last year, with Trump, an award he has long coveted.

Meanwhile, after her White House meeting, Machado is scheduled to meet with members of the Senate. Her Washington trip followed the US seizure of another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, which the Trump administration says had connections to Venezuela.

This move is part of a broader US effort to control Venezuela’s oil after American forces captured Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to face trial on drug trafficking charges.

White House spokeswoman Leavitt said that Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration, and Rodríguez’s government announced plans to release additional prisoners held under Maduro, including five Americans this week.

Rodríguez has reportedly taken a less confrontational stance toward Trump compared to immediately after Maduro’s ouster, indicating she believes the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere can work for Venezuela, at least for now.

Trump on Wednesday stated that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted. “We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things. And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela," Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing.