Palm Beach, Florida, 04 January (H.S.): United States President Donald Trump dismissed Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado as a viable interim leader for Venezuela during a January 3, 2026, news conference at Mar-a-Lago, characterizing the opposition firebrand as a very nice woman yet bereft of domestic support or respect to govern effectively following Nicolás Maduro's capture. This candid rebuff came mere hours after Operation Absolute Resolve, underscoring Trump's interim running of the oil-rich nation via collaboration with Maduro's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, amid surging tensions and global scrutiny.

Machado, barred from 2024 elections yet a symbol of resistance with fervent backing, had proclaimed readiness to take power post-raid, prompting Trump's pointed critique.

Leadership Calculus Unveiled

She doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country... it would be very tough for her to be the leader, Trump articulated, pivoting to engagements with Rodríguez's camp for a safe, proper, and judicious transition leveraging U.S. oil firms to revive infrastructure.

Sources indicate White House overtures to Maduro loyalists prefigure stabilization sans Machado's primacy, contrasting her vows of democratic renewal after Delta Force's bedroom breach at Fuerte Tiuna.

Vice President JD Vance reinforced prior ultimatums on drug trafficking and resource reclamation, as congressional Democrats assailed the unconsulted strike.

Fractured Opposition Dynamics

Machado's exhilaration—the time for freedom has come—clashed with Trump's calculus, rooted in perceived internal fractures despite her galvanizing rallies against Maduro's 25-year socialist grip.

Venezuelan VP Rodríguez, demanding proof of life while fortifying resources, aligns oddly with U.S. designs, as Brazil condemns the precedent and India urges citizen evacuations. Maduro, facing New York trials for narco-terrorism with wife Cilia Flores, leaves a power vacuum where Trump's America First recalibration prioritizes pragmatism over ideological purity.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar