María Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize winner and the opposition leader who should be Venezuela’s president, met with Donald Trump for lunch today. Unfortunately, the meeting was closed to the press, but it seemed to last for quite a while, longer than expected, by some accounts.
Immediately after, Machado did leave with a huge smile on her face and a reassuring message for the Venezuelan people: “Know that we are counting on President Trump for the freedom of Venezuela.”
🚨 BREAKING: Venezuelans ERUPT in cheers after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says outside the White House, “we count on President Trump for FREEDOM!”
She just met with 47
Machado has dedicated her Nobel Prize to Trump because she know he makes PEACE everywhere! 🇺🇸🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/r3Qo8JVczC
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 15, 2026
Dozens of Venezuelan people were gathered outside the White House, waving flags and signs that thanked Donald Trump and the United States for giving them hope for the first time in decades, after the capture and arrest of Nicolás Maduro on January 3. Machado stopped to speak with them, hug them, and reassure them that all will be well.
“Thank you, North America. Thank you to the Donald Trump Administration,” reads a sign held by a Venezuelan outside the White House.
Today, Venezuelans are gathering in front of the White House to thank President Trump and to show support for María Corina Machado, the leader of… pic.twitter.com/2XAwBo6EZk
— Orlando Avendaño (@OrlvndoA) January 15, 2026
Venezuelans gathered outside the White House to greet María Corina Machado and thank President Trump for his support of freedom in Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/oZDdEZLJ3P
— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) January 15, 2026
After her meeting with Trump, Machado spoke with a bipartisan group of members of Congress about her vision for the future of Venezuela. Among other things, she pointed out, “You have no idea how many times I’ve heard, ‘It is impossible. It is impossible to change. It is impossible to end the tyranny.’ And look what we’ve done.”
María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) en reunión con senadores republicanos y demócratas en el Capitolio de los Estados Unidos. pic.twitter.com/5nQJDmiOzP
— Vocería Oficial de Venezuela (@voceriavzla) January 15, 2026
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) was apparently in that meeting and spoke of how the first thing she did was say that if not for President Trump, none of this would be possible. He added that if not for Machado, none of it would be either, and he pointed out that it’s not over.
“We don’t have free and fair elections yet. We don’t have free press yet,” Scott said. “We have got to continue to understand that Delcy Rodriguez is not the leader. She was never elected as the president. She’s still the leader of drug cartels…Let’s move to free and fair elections for the benefit of all Venezuelans, not just you and your narco-traffickers.”
Machado also spoke to the press after the meeting and offered more reassuring words about the situation in Venezuela and her conversation with Trump:
I conveyed to him with precision, the commitment that exists in Venezuelan society to fight for a transition that will allow us not only to build solid, stable democratic institutions, but also to address the most important thing, which is our people, not only in terms of freedoms, the release of political prisoners, guarantees of free expression, freedom of movement, freedom of organization, but also addressing the enormous humanitarian crisis in Venezuela due to the situation regarding income, the lack of employment, the collapse in security, health, and education.
When asked what Trump said to her, she added:
First of all, I was very impressed by how clear he is, how he knows the situation in Venezuela, how much he cares about what the people of Venezuela are suffering. And, I assured him that Venezuelan society is united, that today more than 90% of Venezuelans want the same thing. We want to live in freedom, with dignity, with justice. We want our children back home. And for that to happen, there has to be democracy in Venezuela.
I’m glad this happened today for two reasons. First, I think it’s great for the Venezuelan people. When I spoke with Venezuelan opposition-aligned lawyer Estrella Infante last week, we covered a lot of topics, but at the end of the day, she told me that what the people of that country will wait for more than anything else is to do what Machado tells them to do. There is no doubt in my mind that this is how a significant portion of that country feels. I’ve got polling to back it up, but I don’t need it. I see it online daily. I hear it from people I know who know best.
The other reason is that Trump made a big deal out of praising Delcy Rodríguez on Wednesday, and I know that makes many here in the United States uncomfortable for several reasons. Many of you have even written to me and said you don’t like the president’s rhetoric on this topic.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 15, 2026
Especially considering that, as I write this, Rodríguez is speaking and saying, “Venezuela is threatened. All of Venezuela is threatened. And that’s why I’m calling for national unity, so that, with sovereignty at the forefront, we can wage this diplomatic battle. And I tell you, if one day I have to go to Washington as acting president, I will do it standing, walking, not dragged.”
So, I’d also like to remind you of a few things.
As Senator Scott implied, Rodríguez is a snake. She and others who are currently playing at being in charge of the country are just as bad as Maduro. Trump knows that. Rubio knows that. The Venezuelan people know that.
Trump isn’t done. Look at the past — this is how he operates. This is how he gets what he wants. He flatters and speaks kindly to even his greatest enemies, while knowing he can easily go scorched earth on them if he wants. He has not endorsed this woman or any other member of the regime as the future leadership of that country and he never will. Right now, they are simply pawns. The people in Venezuela seem to understand that better than those of us here in the U.S.
Rodríguez is playing a long game, too, but her stakes are higher. Everything I read, see, or hear tells me that the regime is fractured, and no one trusts anyone else, especially Diosdado Cabello, whom I plan to write more about later. But that’s why, when she stands up and says says anti-U.S. stuff, a lot of it is bluster. Ignore it for now.
The fact that Trump met with Machado 100% behind closed doors today is significant. If he wants to maintain the control he currently has over the regime without it getting messier, he can’t appear as if he’s picking sides. If he felt she was unimportant, he wouldn’t have met with her at all.
The fact that it happened gave them a chance to meet and discuss the issues, and it gave hope to the Venezuelan people so they will continue to support Trump’s mission, but unlike many of the president’s high-profile meetings similar to this one, there were no photos released and no big to-do was made.
Here’s the most important part: No one knows exactly what the president has planned for the future of Venezuela, even the loudest “experts” and the flashiest MSM headlines. But leaving the current regime in charge would go against every goal he has and have serious negative ramifications for the United States, be it mass migration, drug trafficking, crime, oil and mineral access, etc.
I was going to say that I trust our president better than that, but I don’t have to. Most of his actions to date have proven to me that he will do what he believes in the best interest in the United States. He solves problem; he doesn’t let them fester. Whatever the motives, it’s just not who he is.
Finally, I’ll add that Rubio has been fighting for a free Venezuela and against this regime for most of his political career. If he was to suddenly approve permanent Chavismo 2.0 — aka letting Delcy and the regime stay in place — he’d be selling his soul and going against every value he’s ever championed and every action he’s taken against the regime.
Trump and Rubio have a plan for Venezuela: stabilize, recover, and transition. Make no mistake that it does not involve any member of the regime or anyone affiliated with Cartel de los Soles running the country. We’re still in the very early stages, and most of what you see is classic Trump optics…not policy.
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