Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado gifted her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday.

Machado met with the president a day after Trump spoke with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, over the phone. Machado had previously dedicated her award to Trump last year “for his decisive support of our cause.”

“I presented the President of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. She said Trump deserved the accolade “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

Trump thanked Machado for the award and complimented the opposition leader in a post on Truth Social.

“It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much,” said Trump. “María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”

Top Trump officials have repeated the administration’s commitment to long-term democratic elections in Venezuela, however, the president has not placed a timeline on when elections might happen. Securing trustworthy democratic elections is one of the top priorities of Machado, whose party has been kept out of power in part due to election rigging by Venezuela’s Communist regime.

After ousting former Venezuela strongman Nicolás Maduro earlier this month and forcibly extraditing him to New York to face trial on drug-related charges, the Trump administration has left Rodriguez to steady the Venezuela government while using an oil embargo to force Caracas to align itself with U.S. interests.

Trump has declined to pressure Rodriguez to turn over the government to the opposition. The White House was reportedly convinced prior to Maduro’s arrest that Machado did not have the sway among Venezuela’s government and power brokers to stabilize the government. Some of the reforms that Washington has tasked Caracas with include ridding foreign influence from nations such as China and Cuba from Venezuela’s government.

Washington has kept up pressure on Venezuela by restricting Caracas’ ability to sell oil on the international market. The United States has seized at least half a dozen oil tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude. The ships belong to a “ghost fleet” of foreign vessels that often use deception to carry sanctioned goods.

Instead, Washington has struck a deal with Rodriguez’s administration and will handle the sale of Venezuelan oil on international markets. The Trump administration says it can secure a higher price for Venezuela while keeping influence over Caracas by controlling the flow of its most important export.

Just months after California was rocked by violent anti-ICE riots, California Governor Gavin Newsom claims that his state “cooperates” with federal immigration authorities.

Newsom made the statement during an interview with the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, who pressed him on California’s sanctuary state status and his history of anti-ICE rhetoric. Most recently, Newsom’s press office suggested that the shooting of a woman driving her car toward an ICE agent in Minneapolis was “state-sponsored terrorism.”

“We work very directly with ICE as it relates to [California prisons]. California has cooperated with more ICE transfers than probably any other state in the country. And I’ve vetoed multiple pieces of legislation that have come from my legislature to stop the ability for the state of California to do that,” Newsom said.

“
So when it comes to the issues of violent criminals, when it comes to felons, people that are being released from the largest state system in the United States of America, California cooperates with ICE,” he added.

While Newsom told Shapiro that California prisons had handed over 10,000 illegal alien felons to ICE, the data during his tenure as governor tell a different story.

.@GavinNewsom REFUSES to tell @benshapiro if he thinks boys can become girls:

Shapiro: “The fundamental question…is the question that you’re not wanting to answer, which is whether boys can become girls.”

Newsom: “Yeah…I think…I’m for the grace of God…Yeah.” pic.twitter.com/Lse5fNw3SY

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) January 16, 2026

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, from October 1, 2022, to February 6, 2025, 52% of all ICE detainers — requests for local law enforcement to hold illegals arrested for crimes — were in California. The total number was over 13,000, well over the next highest total of 2,946 (Illinois).

Newsom also talked tough on handing over violent offenders, but during that same time, law enforcement in his state released at least 29 illegals facing homicide charges or convictions. Additionally, local law enforcement have pointed to state sanctuary city policies for hamstringing their ability to reach out to ICE when they arrest illegal aliens for crimes.

During his interview with Shapiro, Newsom admitted that it was a “fair” criticism to knock his press office for accusing ICE of committing terrorism and criticized calls from fellow Democrats to completely abolish the agency.

Newsom’s admission came after Shapiro told him his office accusing ICE of terrorism “makes our politics worse” and “our ICE officers are obviously not terrorists.”

After the Minneapolis shooting, Newsom claimed that ICE was acting as President Donald Trump’s “personal police force” and had “rampaged” America.

“His administration has driven extremism and cruelty while discarding basic safeguards and accountability,” Newsom claimed. “His reckless crackdown must end.”

In September, Newsom signed legislation aimed at barring ICE officers from wearing masks while they conduct operations. The bill came as ICE officers have faced a surge in harassment, assaults, and violent threats.

That law came after Los Angeles was rocked by violent riots as law enforcement officers were attacked and vehicles were burned after ICE started conducting operations in the area. The riots prompted President Trump to send in the National Guard to protect federal operations.

Newsom claimed that the move was “purposefully inflammatory” and would “erode public trust.” Those riots ended up costing more than $30 million, including more than $1.4 million in property damage.