Trump calls an electoral duel between Delcy Rodríguez and María Corina Machado in Venezuela "interesting"

WASHINGTON / CARACAS. — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that it would be "interesting" to see Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, and opposition leader María Corina Machado face off in an eventual presidential election.

"Well, that would be interesting," Trump told reporters at the White House, according to the EFE news agency. The president declined to commit to backing either figure or to a timetable for elections.

His remarks come amid a dialogue between the Chavista government and a sector of the opposition led by Dinorah Figuera, president of the National Assembly elected in 2015, in which Machado does not participate. The talks, backed by Washington, seek to advance toward a democratic transition and include discussion of electoral commission reform, though no election date has been set.

Last week, the Trump administration lifted financial sanctions on Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly and the Chavista government's chief interlocutor in the dialogue, the interim president's brother. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed the administration's full support for the process last Friday.

Since the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. operation in Caracas last January, the Trump administration has tightened its ties with Delcy Rodríguez's government. Both countries restored diplomatic relations, broken since 2019, and in August announced an oil deal that would give Washington access to a quarter of Venezuela's crude reserves.

Meanwhile, Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, remains abroad and has denounced that Chavista authorities are obstructing her return to Venezuela.

Photo: EFE / El Democrático

Source: EFE.