President Donald Trump indicated Thursday that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is coming to the United States next week and that he plans to meet with the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
“Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in a taped interview that aired Thursday night.
A representative for Machado did not immediately confirm the meeting Thursday night, and the White House did not immediately provide details.
A meeting between Trump and Machado would come on the heels of the U.S. arrest and extraction of Venezuela's deposed president, Nicolás Maduro. Delcy Rodríguez is now interim president. Several Republicans in Congress have pushed for Machado to lead the country.
Trump last week told reporters that it would “be very tough for [Machado] to be the leader, because she doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Machado on Sunday as “fantastic” but said the speed of the situation required other leadership.
“Unfortunately, the vast majority of the opposition is no longer present inside of Venezuela. We have short-term things that have to be addressed right away,” Rubio said.
Machado, who won the Nobel prize last year, has said Trump “deserved it.”
Asked on Fox News whether he would accept Machado’s Nobel prize if she gave it to him, Trump said: "I’ve heard that she wants to do that. That’d be a great honor."
Trump has not been subtle in his Nobel Peace Prize ambitions and has campaigned for the award. In an interview with NBC News recently, he denied reporting from The Washington Post that said he did not appoint Machado to lead Venezuela after Maduro’s capture because she won the Nobel.
“She should not have won it,” Trump previously said. “But no, that has nothing to do with my decision.”
