WASHINGTON - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met Mr Donald Trump on Jan 15 for what the White House called “positive” talks – despite the US president sidelining her and openly coveting her Nobel Peace Prize.

Since

toppling Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro,

Mr Trump has said that Ms Machado doesn’t have the support of the oil-rich country’s people and has instead backed Mr Maduro’s deputy, Ms Delcy Rodriguez.

Ms Machado said she “presented” her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Mr Trump, an award that the Nobel committee says cannot be transferred.

“I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Ms Machado told reporters outside the US Capitol following her White House meeting with Mr Trump.

After the meeting, Ms Machado, who campaigned for years to end leftist Mr Maduro’s rule, met jubilant supporters outside the White House.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr Trump had been “looking forward” to his lunch with Ms Machado, their first meeting since the dramatic US military operation that captured Mr Maduro on Jan 3.