U.S. President Donald Trump hinted on Tuesday that he wants to “involve” Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado in the future of Venezuela, days after their meeting at the White House following the U.S. military operation earlier this month in the Latin American country, which resulted in around one hundred deaths and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
“An incredibly kind woman did something incredible. We’re talking to her, and maybe we can involve her in some way. I would love to be able to do that. María, maybe we can,” he said during a press conference to review his first year in office, coinciding with the anniversary of his return to the White House.
Trump’s statements came days after Machado presented him with the Nobel Peace Prize medal she received weeks earlier in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, “for her unique commitment to freedom,” despite the Nobel Foundation previously stating that its awards are non-transferable and irrevocable.
He also stated that “one of the reasons why” he now feels “so much animosity” towards Venezuela is because, he claims, “it opened its prisons to the United States.” He then asserted that he “loves Venezuela” and that the authorities, now led by Delcy Rodríguez, “have been working very well” with his administration.
Overall, the U.S. president summarized that things “have gone very well” so far: “Oil companies are preparing to make massive investments there. They have more oil than even Saudi Arabia,” he added during his remarks.
