Trump Snubs Machado After Explaining Why He Took Her Nobel Prize
It seems that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s ultimate show of fealty to President Trump will get her nothing.
Machado met with Trump on Thursday and brought along her Nobel Peace Prize, offering it to the president. It was clearly a last-ditch attempt to earn a larger role in any upcoming regime change effort in the wake of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s kidnapping. But Trump couldn’t care less.
“You just called Machado a ‘very nice person,’” reporters asked Trump Friday afternoon. “Why align yourself with [interim President] Delcy Rodríguez and the remnants of the Maduro regime, not with Machado, who has the support of the Venezuelan people?”
“Well, if you ever remember a place called Iraq, where everybody was fired, every single person. The police, the generals, everybody was fired,” Trump said. “And they ended up being ISIS. Instead of just getting down to business, they ended up being ISIS.... But I’ll tell you I had a great meeting yesterday by a person who I have a lot of respect for … and she gave me her Nobel Prize.”
Reporter: Why align yourself with Delcy Rodriguez and not Machado?
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 16, 2026
Trump: If you ever remember a place called Iraq where every single person was fired—the police, the generals, everybody was fired and they ended up being ISIS. pic.twitter.com/rlFEHug1jH
When asked why he would want someone else’s Nobel Prize, Trump replied, “Well, she offered it to me.”
Reporter: Why would you want someone else’s Nobel Prize?
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 16, 2026
Trump: She offered it to me. pic.twitter.com/sTZbtZEIzK