Trump to meet with Machado, says he would accept her Nobel Prize

by · UPI

Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will meet with President Donald Trump next week and said he would accept her Nobel Peace Prize.

Machado -- the most recent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize -- told Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier this week that she wanted to give her prize to the president.

Trump said he would be honored to accept it from her.

"I've stopped eight wars," The Hill reported Trump said. "I think it's been a major embarrassment to Norway. Now, I don't know what Norway has to do with it but that's where the committee is located, a lot of Norwegian people."

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"Well, I understand she's coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her," he said in the interview with Hannity.

No date for the meeting has been released.

Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez assumed office Monday after the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro in an operation by U.S. forces. Maduro and his wife Cilia were taken to the United States, where they pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking and other gun charges.

Last week, Trump told reporters that it would "be very tough for [Machado] to be the leader [of Venezuela], because she doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that Machado is "fantastic" but said the speed of the situation required a different leader of the country.

"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," NBC News reported Rubio said.

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Supporters of ousted Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro carry his portrait during a rally outside the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela on Monday. Photo by Jonathan Lanza/UPI | License Photo