President Donald Trump could be running afoul of the law once again when he accepted Venezuelan democracy activist María Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize during a meeting at the White House, something Trump has long coveted and thinks he deserves. Machado met with Trump to give him her Nobel Prize Thursday, Jan. 15, according to news outlets, and a photo of Machado and Trump with the prize released by the White House have circulated online, but it’s unclear if the President made any promises about helping Machado claim a leadership role in Venezuela now that former dictator Nicolás Maduro is jailed in New York and his Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as acting president of the socialist South American nation. President Donald J. Trump meets with María Corina Machado of Venezuela in the Oval Office, during which she presented the President with her Nobel Peace Prize in recognition and honor. (Photo: X/The White House) The Nobel Committee made it clear recently that the distinguished honor cannot be transferred to another person after it is awarded. “A Nobel Prize can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time,” the Nobel Foundation said in a statement on its website. It’s also not possible to revoke the award once it has been handed out, and the Nobel Peace Center clarified that a medal can change owners, but not the title of Peace Prize Laureate. The person who wins the prize is always known by that title and no one else, regardless of who may own it. ‘STFU’: Karoline Leavitt Spazzes Out, Tries to Humiliate a Reporter, Then Whines as Trump Got Hit with the Same Energy He Gives Everyone Else But the Nobel Prize rules are not the only concern with Trump accepting Machado’s award. Constitutional experts point to the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9, as another potential problem for Trump in accepting Machado’s Peace Prize. The clause restricts the federal government from awarding titles of nobility and government officials from accepting “gifts, emoluments, offices, or titles from foreign states and monarchies” without Congressional approval. It shields federal officials from so-called “corrupting foreign influences.” But the courts have never really reviewed or ruled on the exact meaning and scope of the clause, which broadly prohibits federal office holders, including the president, from accepting “profit, benefit, advantage or services.” “I’m no constitutional scholar, but I can read. Trump accepting the Nobel prize from Machado, whether the committee allows it or not, is prohibited by the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act and federal bribery statutes,” a Threads user noted. But social media zoomed in on this. As Machado was leaving the White House, she’s carrying a red bag, and this Threads user thinks she knows what it is. View on Threads “She traded her Nobel peace prize for some TRUMP branded swag.” But if that’s true, it’s definitely illegal. “Like that’ll stop him!! It’s a bribe, pure and simple. Machado is hoping thump will name her President of her blighted country!” another Threads user stated. According to the U.S. Justice Department, federal law “prohibits the giving or accepting of anything of value to or by a public official, if the thing is given ‘with intent to influence’ an official act, or if it is received by the official ‘in return for being influenced.'” Public officials cannot accept “the same thing of value, if he does so ‘for or because of’ any official act, and prohibits anyone from giving any such thing to him for such a reason.”  After Trump attacked Venezuela earlier this month, arresting Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, there was no regime change, even though opposition leader Edmundo González ostensibly won the 2024 election in a landslide. Instead, Trump insisted he was in charge and that he planned to restart the country’s oil production. Machado had called for the recognition of González as the country’s rightful leader shortly after Maduro’s capture, according to NPR. ‘How Embarrassing’: Law Could Make Trump Accepting Nobel Prize from Machado Look Like Bribery, and Viewers Spotted What She Walked Away with ...read more read less