Trump didn't want Machado leading Venezuela because she accepted Nobel Peace Prize, didn't demand it be given to him

[highplainsdem]

Last edited Mon Jan 5, 2026, 01:07 AM - Edit history (1)

Insanity: Sources close to the White House told the Washington Post Trump lost interest in backing Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado to lead the country because she accepted her Nobel Peace Prize rather than demanding it be given to Trump, which was viewed as an “ultimate sin.”

— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2026-01-05T04:47:37.287Z

— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2026-01-05T04:50:31.862Z

[AZJonnie]

1. So, Trump is asserting that it is his decision, and his decision alone, to dictate the next leader of Venezuela?

If this report is correct ... are you fucking kidding me right now?



I would like to know the actual source here, would've been nice if MT had included that. Not the person quoted, but rather who wrote the mini-article that forms the message as a whole. Is it from a newspaper, or ???

[highplainsdem]

2. Their first sentence says it's from the Washington Post. I just edited the OP to add the link, and

I posted the story in LBN: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143592978

MeidasTouch hadn't mentioned that the story says the WH is considering having Stephen Miller oversee operations in Venezuela.

The best choice would be Machado, but since Trump's fee-fees were hurt...

[AZJonnie]

3. My bad, my brain was looking for a link not just the words lol ...

Thanks, and yeah I'd seen that other post since. I wonder if Trump will be pissed off at whoever said that, since it's making a claim that Trump is saying he's deciding who the next President will be. That may not be his desired stance, at least not publicly. It's highly illegal, but of course, Trump is effectively above the law due to the corrupt 6 in the SCOTUS and the GQP flying House monkeys, so who knows if he'd consider that, but this person made a hell of a big claim on Trump's behalf there w/o realizing it at the time (the people around him ain't too bright).

[tanyev]

4. Trumper Tantrum. 😒

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. According to the Washington Post, trump is a sore loser and will not work with Machado because she won Nobel Peace prize

trump is a small and petty man. Here is the excerpt from the Washington Post

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/04/us-venezuela-plan-trump-rubio-miller/

The day before, Trump had effectively dismissed the prospects of Venezuela’s democratic opposition, including Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, whose stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, won more than two-thirds of the vote in an election last year that saw Maduro refuse to leave office.

“It’d be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump said when asked about Machado on Saturday, adding that she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”

Associates of Machado, who covertly escaped Venezuela last month with the help of the United States to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony in Norway, were caught off-guard by Trump’s comment, according to a person close to her team.

On Sunday, she and her supporters once again urged the Venezuelan diaspora to rally in the streets. But with the two most prominent leaders outside the country — González fled to Spain last year after the election, and Machado’s location is not known — there was little they could do to mobilize a response inside Venezuela.

One Venezuelan opposition leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions, said Trump’s remarks were difficult for many in the opposition movement to hear, but “in every transition, you have to swallow some bitter pills.”

This person said the next 48 hours could help clarify whether Rodríguez could usher in a “soft transition” by replacing hard-line ministers or rather continue Maduro’s government with “gringo guardianship.”

Two people close to the White House said the president’s lack of interest in boosting Machado, despite her recent efforts to flatter Trump, stemmed from her decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award the president has openly coveted.

Although Machado ultimately said she was dedicating the award to Trump, her acceptance of the prize was an “ultimate sin,” said one of the people.

“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” this person said.