Donald Trump’s public schedule for Friday, March 6 read that he was having his usual morning “Executive Time” at the White House from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. While the mainstream media likes to pop up occasionally and say that’s just code for sitting around doing nothing or watching TV, we know that it’s time he often blocks off to handle his private presidential business.
On Friday, he used that time to have an important breakfast meeting, according to Caracol Radio. The guest list included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. It also included Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. The meeting was reportedly at Trump’s request and lasted for at last 90 minutes, longer than it was scheduled.
Machado met with Trump and Rubio earlier this year, when she gave the president her Nobel Peace Prize, and she met with Rubio again at the State Department shortly after, so this is the third known meeting she’s had with the administration. She’s also been meeting with various members of Congress, and will reportedly return to the White House to meet with Trump again within the next few weeks.
The big topic of discussion was Venezuela’s political transition and democratic future. Machado and most of Venezuela are understandably anxious to hold new elections. If and when that happens, Machado would likely run and win by a landslide — at least 70% of the country backs her at this moment.
Just as she would have won in 2024, but Nicolás Maduro banned her from running after she won the opposition primary with something like 90% of the vote. When that happened, she threw her support behind Edmundo González, still managed to rally the opposition to support him, and though that vote was never fully counted and the Chavistas made every effort to keep people from voting for anyone but Maduro, González still won by an overwhelming majority. She still has that kind of support. I hear it from Venezuelan people inside and outside the country daily.
According to Caracol, Trump and Rubio are on the same page, but it will require some more patience: “Washington considers it necessary to prioritize political stabilization and allow room to maneuver for the regime that still controls part of the state apparatus before moving towards an electoral process.”
Machado has recently said that she plans to return to Venezuela “soon” and will tour the country, drumming up support for the transition. I think one reason Machado keeps speaking out on such matters is to ensure the Venezuelan people know they haven’t been forgotten in all of this. She’s trying to keep their morale high, as much as she’s advocating for the transition. She’s said many times herself that it will take some time.
Of course, I can’t verify that this meeting happened, but Caracol is typically a reliable source. And the reason I wanted to point it out is that the mainstream media has come out with another round of headlines in recent days that the Trump administration has “left behind” Machado, and that’s simply not the case, or is exaggerated at best. I’m convinced they just do this occasionally because they know Venezuelans love Machado and they know Venezuelans love Trump and Rubio, and God forbid anyone actually like and support our president, so let’s drive some kind of wedge in there.
They also like to jump on the fact that Trump continuously praises “acting president” Delcy Rodríguez, when the reality is she’s temporary. She’s doing what she’s told to stabilize the country, dismantle the regime, and save her own life. Trump even said today at the Shield of the Americas summit that he only says that because she’s following orders. He said if she weren’t following orders, he wouldn’t be saying that at all. A recent State Department memo also indicated that she’s merely temporary.
Related: Trump’s ‘Shield of the Americas’ is Here, and the Kickoff Did Not Disappoint
No matter what rhetoric our president uses, Delcy’s not the president of Venezuela, just as Maduro wasn’t — anyone who describes either of them that way is not someone you can trust — he or she is either one of Maduro’s fellow communist comrades, or just a complete idiot. And just over two months ago, Delcy was every bit the Marxist narco-tyrant that Maduro was. It’s an ideology that has been ingrained in her since childhood. She didn’t suddenly see the light in January — she saw the United States making her an offer she could not refuse and survive.
Trump and Rubio are the ones running that country, and eventually, someone else will. It will very likely be Machado. I know I repeat this a lot, but inevitably, anytime Trump praises Delcy, some of y’all reach out to me in a panic, so I probably won’t stop anytime soon. As I’m writing this, Chile’s president-elect, José Antonio Kast, has invited her to his inauguration ceremony next week. That’s just more proof that world leaders do and will continue to take her seriously.
On that note, I wanted to end with this: an NPR reporter, of all people, went to Venezuela recently and was shocked at what he saw.
“For the first time in a long time, there are street protests. Opposition groups are holding public meetings. I was at the justice department building yesterday, and there was a group of protesters calling for all political prisoners to be released,” Eyder Peralta said on Friday. He also noted that he saw “lots of smiles” during Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s recent visit.
Most of the MSM wants it to fail, but what Trump and Rubio are doing in Venezuela is historic, and will significantly change the lives of millions for the better. Those who are paying attention get it. The signs are all there, and more and more are popping up every day. It’s happening faster than any of us imagined.
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