Venezuelan Nobel Prize Winner Would ‘Love’ To Give Trump Her Award Despite Him Not Supporting Her

Venezuela opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado said she would personally “love” to give US President Donald Trump her prestigious award after the US captured the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, in a military operation on Saturday.

“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people, certainly want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday. 

Machado’s remark follows the aftermath of Saturday’s military strike in Venezuela, where Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by US forces in the middle of the night. The ousted Venezuelan leader was taken to the US, where he is facing narco-terrorism-related charges, and pleaded not guilty Monday. 

While Trump and his allies have boasted about the military operation in Venezuela, and stated that the US will run the country until “a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” critics slammed the administration for not informing Congress of their intentions. 

Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans are seeking more clarification on what he meant by the US “running” Venezuela, as the future of its leadership remains unclear. 

Venezuela’s vice president and oil minister, Delcy Rodriguez, was formally sworn in on Monday as the country’s interim president.

Trump told reporters on Saturday he would not support Machado’s bid to lead Venezuela, claiming she lacked “respect” from the people. She had previously dedicated her Nobel prize to him in October, after Trump publicly campaigned for the award himself.

Trump deserves her award, Machado told Hannity, adding that January 3 “will go down in history as the day justice defeated a tyranny.” 

Machado then went on to say, “And a lot of people, most people, said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, January 3. So if I believed he deserved it on October, imagine now. I think he has proven to the world what he means.”