Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met Donald Trump Thursday for what the White House called "positive" talks -- despite the U.S. president sidelining her and openly asking whether he, not Machado, should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize.
Since toppling Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Trump has said that Machado doesn't have the support of the oil-rich country's people and has instead backed Maduro's deputy, Delcy Rodriguez.
In a bid to keep on Trump's good side, the 58-year-old Machado has even offered to share her Nobel award with Trump, and the president indicated she might give it to him when they meet.
After the meeting, Machado, who campaigned for years to end leftist Maduro's rule, met jubilant supporters outside the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been "looking forward" to his lunch with Machado, their first meeting since the dramatic U.S. military operation that captured Maduro on Jan. 3.
"He's expecting it to be a good and positive discussion with Ms. Machado, who is really a remarkable and brave voice for many of the people of Venezuela," Leavitt told reporters as the meeting got underway.
Trump would also be "talking to her about the realities on the ground in the country and what is taking place."
- 'Likes what he's seeing' -
For now, though, the president has thrown his backing behind interim president Rodriguez, particularly after saying that Caracas had secured U.S. access to Venezuela's oil.
"The president likes what he's seeing" from the interim government, Leavitt said, adding that Trump was "committed to hopefully seeing elections in Venezuela one day," but without specifying when.
Machado, during her lunch with Trump, is expected to have sought to bring the issue of a democratic transition back into the foreground.
As for the Nobel she won for her long struggle against Maduro's rule, Trump said he understood she "wants to" give it to him, adding in a Fox News interview that it "would be a great honor."
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said, however, that that was impossible.
"Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time," it said in a post on X.
"A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot."
After Machado appeared in Oslo last month to collect her Nobel prize -- following a daring escape by boat -- she did not return to Venezuela and remained in effective exile.
Venezuela's opposition has argued and presented evidence that Maduro stole the 2024 election from the candidate of Machado's party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia -- claims supported by Washington.
- Sixth tanker seized -
Since Maduro's capture, Trump has said that the United States will "run" Venezuela but has appeared content to let Rodriguez remain in power.
Trump on Wednesday called Rodriguez a "terrific person". Rodriguez said the call was "productive and courteous," and characterized by "mutual respect."
Washington has in particular focused on its economic demands, particularly access to Venezuelan oil.
U.S. forces on Wednesday seized a sixth oil tanker 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 U.S. military said on social media, with a video showing soldiers rappelling onto a vessel's deck.
Separately, the first U.S.-brokered sale of Venezuelan oil, worth around $500 million, has been finalized, a U.S. official told AFP on Thursday 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 U.S. raid that toppled Maduro continue to reverberate.
Cuba paid tribute on Thursday to 32 soldiers killed in the operation, some of whom had been assigned to Maduro's protection team, in a ceremony attended by revolutionary leader Raul Castro.