Updated Jan. 8, 2026, 11:02 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump said Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is coming to the United States “next week sometime” in a sit-down interview on the Fox News show “Hannity” that aired on Jan. 8.
The show’s host Sean Hannity asked Trump if he would meet Machado and accept Machado’s 2025 Nobel Peace Prize if she gave it to him.
“I understand she’s coming in next week sometime and I look forward to saying hello to her and I’ve heard that she wants to do that. That would be a great honor,” Trump said.
A meeting would be Trump’s first with Machado, who said earlier this week that she hadn’t spoken to the U.S. leader since she won the Nobel Peace Prize in October. USA TODAY has reached out to the White House for information on the meeting.
The conservative news network touted the interview as the “first sit-down interview since the capture of Nicolás Maduro” in a promotional release sent to USA TODAY.
The interview aired on the same day that the Senate advanced a bipartisan measure to halt further American military action in Venezuela without congressional approval.
Trump said he will meet with oil executives at the White House on Jan. 9. Those oil companies, according to the president, will play a key role in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil industry.
“They’re going to rebuild the whole oil infrastructure. They’re going to spend at least $100 billion and it’s an unbelievable oil that they have, and an unbelievable quality of oil and amount of oil,” he said.
The future governance of the South American country remains in doubt. Trump previously dismissed the idea of working with Machado, saying “she doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”
Trump said in the interview that it will take time for Venezuela, currently led by interim acting President Delcy Rodriguez, to get to a place where it can hold elections.
“We have to rebuild the country. They couldn’t have an election,” he said. “They wouldn’t even know how to have an election right now.”
Contributing: Reuters
