Photos show Danny Westergaard run the Badwater 135 through Death Valley for the 18th time

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — For 37 years — in a searing California desert — runners from across the globe have embarked on a 135-mile race through one of the hottest places on Earth — Death Valley. The annual Badwater 135 Ultramarathon takes place in July, when temperatures soar into the 130s F (54.4s C). At age 66, Danny Westergaard ran to the finish line for the 18th time.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Danny Westergaard, second from right, embraces daughters Meagan Westergaard, right, and Madison Westergaard after finishing the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at Whitney Portal near Lone Pine, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard, second from right, nears the finish line of the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon beside daughters Meagan Westergaard, right, Madison Westergaard, and cousin Jennifer Drain, left, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at Whitney Portal near Lone Pine, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard, left, competes during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon beside Jennifer Drain, his cousin and crew lead, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, near Lone Pine, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard runs as the sun rises during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, near Lone Pine, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard rests beside Jennifer Drain, his cousin and crew lead, during the second night of the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard reacts while taking a break around the 24-hour mark during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard reacts while taking a break around the 24-hour mark during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard cools off in the shade while taking a short break during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard cools off with water before starting up after a short break during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard runs during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard, right, competes with pacing help from daughter Meagan Westergaard during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard takes a break while competing in the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard, left, cools of with water with pacing help from daughter Madison Westergaard as the sun rises during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard, left, competes with pacing help from daughter Madison Westergaard as the sun rises during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard, leading the center group of runners, competes during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Monday, July 7, 2025, near Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Danny Westergaard, left, runs with pacing help from daughter Madison Westergaard as the sun rises during the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was at the White House on Thursday discussing her country's future with President Donald Trump even after he publicly dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela. His administration has signaled its willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and, along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, remains in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela and sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was expecting a positive discussion during the lunchtime meeting and called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela.

The White House said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

Leavitt said Trump is committed to seeing Venezuela hold elections “one day,” but wouldn’t say when that might happen.

Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate later Thursday. Trump has called her “a nice woman” while indicating they might not touch on major issues in their talks Thursday.

Her Washington swing began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

The White House says Venezuela has been fully cooperating with the Trump administration since Maduro’s ouster.

Rodríguez, the acting president, herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move thought to have been made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump wanted to win himself. She has since thanked Trump. Her offer to share the peace prize with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)