Shortly after U.S. forces bombed Caracas and abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Venezuela’s beleaguered rebels were ecstatic.
“Venezuela people, the time for freedom has come,” declared Maria Colina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
But the opposition’s official channels remained silent for most of the day after US President Donald Trump expressed a lack of confidence in Machado and suggested he would team up with pro-Maduro supporter Delcy Rodriguez instead.
Machado had called for Edmundo González Urrutia to become president immediately and for the Venezuelan military to support him. Most Western governments consider Mr. González the rightful winner of Venezuela’s contested 2024 presidential election.
“Today, we are ready to fulfill our mission and seize power,” Machado said. “Let us remain vigilant, active and organized until a democratic transition is achieved. The transition requires all of us.”
Then President Trump held a press conference. When asked if Machado would be involved in a post-Maduro government, Trump said he had not had contact with Machado and said that while she was a “very nice woman”, she “didn’t have the support or respect domestically” to lead Venezuela.
As of Saturday night, neither Machado nor González had publicly commented on Trump’s remarks. CNN has reached out to Machado and González’s teams regarding President Trump’s comments and is awaiting a response.
Trump’s calm response to Machado may seem strange. Machado is an ardent supporter of the president, dedicating her Nobel Prize to Trump and even suggesting in at least one interview that Maduro “rigged” the 2020 U.S. election against Trump.
But Elias Ferrer, founder and director of Orinoco Research, said he was not surprised by Trump’s apparent rejection of Machado, noting that Trump rarely mentions Machado on social media.
Ferrer told CNN that he believes the Trump administration was unimpressed with Venezuela’s opposition during his first term, when it supported Juan Guaido, a bizarre 2019 politician who was trying to take over the country’s leadership with support from Congress.
The United States recognized Guaido as the legitimate president, along with more than 60 others, but his movement stalled soon after.
“He was really rooting for Juan Guaido, but it didn’t work out,” Ferrer said. “And Trump kind of took a hit because he was flaunting this guy who turned out to be a complete failure.”
Ferrer continued that President Trump, in his second term, is most interested in cracking down on crime, bombing drug ships and securing access to oil.
“For these things, you don’t really need a model democracy,” Ferrer said. “We just need a government that is willing to comply in some way.”
David Smilde, a Venezuela expert and professor at Tulane University, told CNN he was shocked that President Trump refused to even mention “democracy” in his press conference.
“They don’t seem to have a transition to democracy in mind,” Smilde said. “They have in mind a stable, economically productive country that is friendly and open to U.S. interests.”
“It doesn’t seem like democracy or Maria Colina Machado is on the map at the moment,” Smilde added.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
President Trump appears to be focusing not on Machado but on Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, a senior figure in the Venezuelan regime.
President Trump announced Saturday that the United States would “manage” Venezuela until a “wise transition of power,” while Rodriguez insisted, “We’re basically going to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
Rodriguez, who is a member of the regime and himself faces sanctions from the United States, said on Saturday television that Maduro remains Venezuela’s president and has yet to directly acknowledge Trump’s assent.
“We will never again be a colony,” Rodriguez said, flanked by government officials including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who was named in the same indictment against Maduro that Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed after the U.S. attack.
One Caracas resident, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, told CNN it was “very strange” that the US removed Maduro and left Rodriguez in charge of Venezuela.
“I don’t know how much progress we’re making by removing Mr. Maduro and putting the blame on them or her,” she said. “I don’t think that makes much sense.”
