Overview
- The White House confirmed a closed-door lunch between President Donald Trump and opposition leader María Corina Machado, calling her a brave voice for many Venezuelans.
- Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s view that Machado lacks sufficient support to lead remains unchanged, with support for new elections only “when the time is right.”
- U.S. forces seized a sixth Venezuela-linked tanker, the Veronica, as officials advance plans to sell sanctioned crude and a first U.S.-brokered oil sale of about $500 million was reported.
- After the meeting, Machado told supporters, “We can count on President Trump,” then met a bipartisan group of senators on Capitol Hill.
- The administration kept channels open with interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, following Trump’s positive call with her, as interim authorities cooperated on oil arrangements and released detainees, including five Americans this week.