The President of the United States, Donald Trump, described as "interesting" the possibility that the interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, and opposition leader María Corina Machado could face each other in potential presidential elections, according to the agency EFE.
The statement was brief and non-committal: when asked at the White House whether he would like to see both politicians contest the ballots, Trump simply replied, "Well, that would be interesting." He did not announce any electoral timeline nor did he express formal support for either.
The comment arrives at a time of intense diplomatic activity regarding Venezuela. The previous week, the Trump administration lifted financial sanctions against Jorge Rodríguez —the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, brother of Delcy and the main interlocutor for chavismo in dialogue with the opposition— coinciding with the start of the third round of negotiations between the Venezuelan government and an opposition sector led by Dinorah Figuera.
That dialogue process, from which Machado is excluded, addresses the reform of the National Electoral Council, the renewal of the Supreme Court of Justice, and the review of political disqualifications affecting opposition members. Figuera stated on Tuesday that both parties have "political will" to hold presidential elections, although he positioned the possible elections for late 2027 or early 2028, with no officially agreed date.
Machado, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2025, has been living abroad since her clandestine departure from Venezuela in December 2025 and has denounced that the Chavist authorities are obstructing her return. Furthermore, she has been disqualified from holding public office for 15 years since June 2023, which would prevent her from competing legally while that sanction is in place.
Last week, Machado alleged that she had been excluded from the negotiations by the Trump administration itself, an accusation that the State Department denied, stating that her party, Vente Venezuela, received an invitation to participate.
Trump's words are framed within the diplomatic shift between Washington and Caracas. Since the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. operation in January, both governments have restored diplomatic relations—broken since 2019—and in August they announced a historic oil agreement involving 17 fields and more than 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan reserves.
In September, Trump and Delcy Rodríguez metfor the first time in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where the U.S. president stated that Venezuela "is still not ready" to hold elections.
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