Trump has repeatedly declined to endorse María Corina Machado as a potential Venezuelan presidential candidate, publicly stating after the January 2026 U.S. operation against Nicolás Maduro that she lacks sufficient domestic support or respect to lead. The administration has instead engaged closely with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, praising her steps to open the oil sector to U.S. investment while sidelining Machado through rejected return requests and descriptions of her as a distraction. Meetings between Trump and Machado, including her presentation of a Nobel medal, produced no shift toward endorsement. As Machado signals plans to seek the presidency and return by late 2026 amid uncertain election timing, these patterns of preference for the interim government and explicit doubts about her viability sustain trader consensus against a Trump endorsement.