Machado says she 'presented' her Nobel medal to Trump

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she "presented" her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump, who has openly coveted the award that the Nobel committee says cannot be transferred.

"I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize," Ms Machado told reporters outside the US Capitol following her White House meeting with Mr Trump.

Ms Machado, whom Mr Trump had earlier dismissed as unfit to lead Venezuela, did not clarify if the president had kept it.

She drew a comparison to the Marquis de Lafayette, the French officer who helped the United States in the Revolutionary War against Britain, saying he handed a medal with the image of first US president George Washington to Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan who led a wave of successful independence fights against Spain.

"Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal - in this case, the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom," she said.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee earlier wrote in a statement on X that the prestigious prize "cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others" and that the name of the winner "stands for all time" even if the medal physically changes hands.

"A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot," the post said.

Ms Machado met Mr Trump for what the White House called "positive" talks - despite the US president sidelining her.

Since toppling Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Mr Trump said that Ms Machado does not have the support of the oil-rich country's people and instead backed Mr Maduro's deputy, Delcy Rodriguez.

In a bid to keep on Mr Trump's good side, Ms Machado even offered to share her Nobel Peace Prize with Mr Trump, and the president previously indicated she might give it to him.

After the meeting, Ms Machado, who campaigned for years to end leftist Mr Maduro's rule, met jubilant supporters outside the White House.

She said that the meeting went very well ⁠and was "great".

For now, though, the US president has thrown his backing behind interim president Ms Rodriguez, particularly after saying that Caracas had secured US access to Venezuela's oil.

"The president likes what he's seeing" from the interim government, Ms Leavitt said, adding that Mr Trump was "committed to hopefully seeing elections in Venezuela one day," but without specifying when.

Sixth tanker seized

Since Mr Maduro's capture, Mr Trump has said that the United States will "run" Venezuela but has appeared content to let Ms Rodriguez remain in power.

Yesterday, Mr Trump called Ms Rodriguez a "terrific person". Ms Rodriguez said the pair's call was "productive and courteous," and characterised by "mutual respect".

Washington has in particular focused on its economic demands, particularly access to Venezuelan oil.

Meanwhile, US forces seized a sixth oil tanker yesterday in its campaign to control oil leaving the fossil fuel-rich South American country.

Marines and sailors apprehended the Tanker Veronica in the Caribbean without incident in a pre-dawn raid, the US military said on social media, with a video showing soldiers rappelling onto a vessel's deck.

Separately, the first US-brokered sale of Venezuelan oil, worth around $500m, has been finalised, a US official said without identifying the buyer.

Washington has also hailed the release of dozens of political prisoners in the past week, though hundreds remain behind bars.

Meanwhile the shockwaves from the lightning US raid that toppled Mr Maduro continue to reverberate.

Cuba paid tribute to 32 soldiers killed in the operation, some of whom had been assigned to Mr Maduro's protection team, in a ceremony attended by revolutionary leader Raul Castro.