Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Venezuelan opposition leader willing to share Nobel Prize with Trump after report indicates U.S. president was angry over it

“She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,” Mr Trump said on Saturday.

• January 6, 2026
Trump and Maria Corina Machado.
Trump and Maria Corina Machado.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, seeks to share the award with President Donald Trump after a report suggested the American leader was angered for being overlooked for the honour and also averse to the idea of her replacing Nicolas Maduro.

Ms Machado, who dedicated the Peace Prize to Mr Trump in October 2025, told Fox News on Monday that she was now willing to share the Nobel spotlight with him in appreciation for Mr Maduro’s ouster and liberation of the Venezuelan people.

“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,” Ms Machado said in an interview with Fox television on Monday.

She said the opposition would make the U.S. its “main ally” ignoring resistance from some of Venezuela’s current leaders who find the U.S. interference humiliating and disrespectful to the Latin nation’s sovereignty.

“We will leave behind all the destruction this socialist regime, criminal regime has brought to our people and turn Venezuela into the main ally of the United States in Latin America,” Ms Machado said.

Her offer to share the Nobel Peace Prize was perceived as a belated overture to curry Mr Trump’s favour after he ruled her out as Mr Maduro’s replacement but instead favoured vice president Delcy Rodríguez.

A Washington Post report said Mr Trump was angry when Ms Machado accepted the Nobel Prize, an award he long coveted, arguing his mediations to end several wars made him a more deserving candidate.

The report said Mr Trump considered her Nobel acceptance an “ultimate sin” and had expected Ms Machado to reject the prize, to give him.

Asked if he could back her presidential candidacy, Mr Trump said Ms Machado lacked the respect of her own people.

“She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country,” Mr Trump said on Saturday. “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

On Saturday, U.S. special forces invaded Venezuela and captured Mr Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. They were ferried to the U.S. to stand trial for narco-terrrorism at a federal court in Manhattan, New York.

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