Trump and Nobel peace prize winner Maria Corina Machado have 1 thing in common. It is…

Both Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado and US President Donald Trump share something in common.

Updated on: Oct 10, 2025, 17:59:41 IST

By HT News Desk

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Maria Corina Machado has won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. The announcement drew global attention, especially after US President Donald Trump had claimed he deserved it.

Machado was recognized for her tireless work promoting democratic rights in Venezuela. Both she and Trump however share something: an adversary in Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Over the past year, Machado, Maduro’s principal opponent, was forced to go into hiding due to threats to her life and was briefly detained during protests.

She also protested against Maduro’s third-term election win, following a controversial vote widely accused of fraud.

Trump’s team has called Maduro an illegitimate leader, reported The New York Times, and he has expressed support for replacing Maduro with Machado.

Some of his top aides, including Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director and Stephen Miller, his chief domestic and homeland security policy aide, have reportedly pushed for a military operation to remove Maduro from power.

An earlier Trump-backed attempt to make young legislator Juan Guaid interim president failed, and last year Guaidó fled to the United States.

Now, Machado, a conservative former member of the national assembly once sidelined by her own colleagues, has united Venezuela’s divided opposition and captured widespread public support with promises of sweeping government reforms.

Even former critics acknowledge that Machado’s movement is the most significant in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s mentor and the architect of the country’s 25-year-old socialist project.

Machado entered politics in 2002, co-founding the voter rights group Sumate, which led a failed effort to recall Chavez.

She became a favorite in Washington, with the US government providing financial support to Sumate, and quickly emerged as one of Chávez’s most hated opponents, reported the New York Times.

But opposition colleagues were often critical as well.

Many considered her too conservative and too confrontational.

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