Trump to meet Venezuela opposition leader Machado at White House on Thursday

US President Donald Trump will host Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado on Thursday at the White House, a senior administration official told Agence France-Presse.

Machado has so far been sidelined by Washington after US forces seized former president Nicolas Maduro on January 3, with Trump’s administration claiming it would be “running” Venezuela.

Hours after deposing Maduro, Trump said Machado lacked the “respect” necessary to run the country, even though in the run-up to the last election in Venezuela the United States backed her and her proxy candidate for president.

The Trump administration has been working with Maduro’s former deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, who is now Venezuela’s interim president.

Since Maduro’s removal, Machado has heaped praise on Trump and has offered to give him her Nobel Peace Prize, an award the US president has long publicly coveted.

Speaking last week, Trump said it would be “a great honour” to accept the gift. The Nobel Institute, however, has said the prize cannot be transferred from one person to another.