The prospect of talks with Machado gained momentum following the U.S. operation that captured Maduro.
President Donald Trump will meet Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado in Washington on Thursday, as questions mount over Venezuela’s political future following the U.S. capture of former leader Nicolás Maduro.
A White House official told The Epoch Times that the Trump–Machado meeting is scheduled for Jan. 15.
Trump was asked by reporters aboard Air Force One on Jan. 11 about his meeting with Machado, after telling Fox News last week that a meeting was being arranged.
“I look forward to that meeting,” Trump replied.
The meeting would be Trump’s first in-person encounter with the 58-year-old opposition figure, who said last week that she had not spoken with the U.S. president since she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at the end of 2025.
The prospect of talks with Machado gained momentum following the U.S. operation that captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and exfiltrated them to the United States to face narcoterrorism charges. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty.
Maduro’s removal ignited speculation about who could ultimately lead Venezuela, but Trump has dismissed suggestions that Machado could immediately assume the presidency, saying she lacks sufficient domestic backing.
“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country,” Trump said on Jan. 3.
Venezuela is currently being led by acting leader Delcy Rodríguez, who previously served as deputy to Maduro and was sworn in after Maduro’s capture left the presidency vacant.
Trump also said on Jan. 3 that the United States would effectively oversee Venezuela during an interim period ahead of a peaceful transition of power.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. So we don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in,” Trump said at the time.
In a recent Fox News interview, Trump said that Venezuela is currently incapable of holding credible elections because of widespread instability.
“They wouldn’t even know how to have an election right now,” Trump said. “The country has become Third World.”
Machado has praised Trump for authorizing the operation that led to Maduro’s capture, calling it “the day justice defeated tyranny.”
“It’s a milestone, and it’s not only huge for the Venezuelan people and our future,” Machado said in a Jan. 5 appearance on Fox News. “I think it’s a huge step for humanity, for freedom, and human dignity.”
Machado has urged Washington to help transform Venezuela into “the main ally of the United States in Latin America,” calling for “dismantling the criminal hub of the Americas and turning it into a security shield.”
“We will bring rule of law. We will open markets. We will give security to foreign investment,” Machado said.
She also said that if she were to lead the country, she would work to bring home millions of Venezuelans who had been forced to flee and help rebuild Venezuela into a strong and prosperous nation.
By Tom Ozimek
