By Independent News Roundup
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill after the meeting, Machado said she handed Trump the medal during a visit that included a private lunch, describing the moment as an expression of gratitude for what she called his decisive role in confronting authoritarianism in Venezuela.
A photograph later posted by the White House showed Trump holding the framed medal alongside Machado inside the Oval Office. The inscription praised Trump’s “extraordinary leadership in promoting peace through strength, advancing diplomacy, and defending liberty and prosperity,” and described the medal as a personal symbol of gratitude offered on behalf of Venezuelans seeking a free nation.
“The courage of America, and its President Donald J. Trump, will never be forgotten by the Venezuelan people,” the inscription read.
Trump acknowledged the presentation in a post on Truth Social, calling it a “wonderful gesture of mutual respect” and saying it was his “Great Honor” to meet Machado at the White House. He praised her resilience, writing that she “has been through so much,” and thanked her for what he described as an extraordinary show of appreciation.
Machado cast the exchange in historical terms, pointing to a moment more than two centuries ago when the Marquis de Lafayette presented Simón Bolívar with a medal bearing George Washington’s likeness — a symbol of solidarity between revolutionary movements fighting tyranny on different continents.
“Two hundred years later,” Machado said, “the people of Bolívar are giving back to the heir of George Washington a medal — in this case, a Nobel Peace Prize medal.”
She said the presentation recognized Trump’s “unique place” in Venezuela’s struggle for freedom from the authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro.
Trump had openly welcomed the idea days earlier, telling Sean Hannity during an interview on Fox News that receiving the medal would be a “great honor.” Machado had also publicly expressed her desire to give or share the prize, calling Trump’s involvement “historic” and a major step toward a democratic transition.
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