President Donald Trump dismissed the idea of working with Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado on a political transition for Venezuela, a setback for the opposition leader who won international acclaim in her fight for democracy in the country.

While Machado is a “nice woman,” she lacks support and respect inside Venezuela, Trump said Saturday in a news conference to discuss the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces. “I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” he said. Instead, he said the US plans to work with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s second-in-command.

The president’s remarks left opposition leaders and Machado’s team stunned and saddened, according to people familiar with the matter. Before leaving to collect her Nobel last month, Machado had been living in hiding in Venezuela, refusing to leave her country as she pressed the international community to condemn Maduro’s regime for human rights violations and election tampering. She had been adamant that her group was ready to lead the day Maduro was no longer in charge.

But some of the people close to Machado, who asked for anonymity to discuss their strategy privately, are holding out hope that the Trump administration has a plan to incorporate her and other opposition leaders into Venezuela’s transition eventually.

A newly created spokesperson’s office for Machado and Edmundo González, the candidate she backed in the 2024 presidential election, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some Trump advisers have viewed a transition to Rodríguez as an off-ramp from Maduro’s hard-line regime, according to people familiar with the Trump administration’s deliberations. That view holds that a gradual transition away from Maduro’s leadership would be less disruptive and destabilizing than a transition to Machado or to González.

The view in part is that if the democratic opposition were to gain power, it would require U.S. military protection from domestic threats, both from the officials in the former Maduro regime and the paramilitaries and drug cartels that control large parts of Venezuelan territory, particularly its jungles and border regions.

Rodríguez seemed to reject Trump’s plan to work with her, saying later Saturday that Maduro remained Venezuela’s only president and that the country was prepared to defend its sovereignty. But Trump made clear he expected to work with members of the current regime, not to install outside leadership.

“What we might be entering is actually a long-term transition period where we might see a number of people trying to claim power and then eventually negotiate their way out,” said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Rodríguez and others could have incentive to surrender to the U.S. on more favorable terms rather than risk Maduro’s fate, he said.

Brief celebration

The opposition coalition led by Machado had spent months preparing for a transition plan, including proposals for the first hours and days after Maduro’s departure. The plan entailed a brief celebration, quick moves to take control of state institutions and a path to win backing from a majority of military officers.

Reality turned out differently. Before Trump spoke Saturday, Machado reiterated that the opposition stood ready to honor what it calls the mandate of the 2024 election and assume power. After the vote that year, opposition groups collected copies of a wide majority of official tally sheets that showed González, a 76-year-old former diplomat, defeating Maduro with almost 70% of the vote. González is now in exile in Spain.

“González should immediately take office and be recognized as commander in chief of the armed forces,” Machado said before Trump’s remarks, outlining initial steps that included restoring order, freeing political prisoners and beginning an economic recovery.

Trump has sent mixed signals about his relationship with Machado. While acknowledging he congratulated her by phone after the announcement of her Nobel prize, he later said publicly that he didn’t know who she was, but that she was a “very generous,” “nice woman” for dedicating her prize to him.

Yet Machado has a long history with some of Trump’s advisers on national security and foreign policy, and people close to the opposition believe they’ll work to carve out a role for her as the plan for Venezuela becomes clearer.

In an October interview on Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain Show, Machado said she had been in contact with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, his team and members of both parties in Congress during the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean that started in mid-August. Machado repeatedly said she supported the administration’s actions, without commenting on U.S. airstrikes or deaths.

Rubio, who accompanied Trump on Saturday, didn’t comment on Machado or her role in the process during the presser.

Further confusing matters Saturday, Trump reposted a comment from French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, who said he hoped González would swiftly ensure a peaceful transition, “respectful of the will of the Venezuelan people.”

Oil plans

Trump also said Saturday that major U.S. companies would invest billions of dollars in Venezuela, particularly to repair “rotten” oil infrastructure, describing it as an opportunity to generate profits for both Venezuelans and the U.S., “for the damages caused.”

Machado’s economic plan, known as “Land of Grace,” calls for a sweeping overhaul of Venezuela’s oil sector. While stopping short of privatizing state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA, it would sharply reduce the company’s role, open production and infrastructure to private investment, and separate regulatory and operational functions.

Trump’s stated plans for the oil industry could be an attempt to pressure the opposition to go along with the U.S. vision if it does eventually take power, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

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