Nobel Institute shuts down talk of Venezuelan leader sharing Peace Prize with Trump

The organization that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize rejected recent suggestions that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado could give or share her award with President Donald Trump.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute shut down the idea Friday, after Machado suggested that she might transfer the prestigious award to Trump earlier this week.

"Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others," the institute said in a statement. "The decision is final and stands for all time."

The statement comes after Machado floated the idea during an appearance Tuesday on Fox News' "Hannity."

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"Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize?" Sean Hannity asked. "Did that actually happen?"

Machado responded, "Well, it hasn’t happened yet."

"I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to give it to him and share it with him," Machado continued. "What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition."

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On Jan. 3, Trump announced that the U.S. had successfully completed an operation to capture authoritarian Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is now facing drug trafficking charges in New York.

Trump was asked during an appearance Thursday on "Hannity" whether he would accept the Nobel Prize from Machado.

"I've heard that she wants to do that," Trump responded. "That would be a great honor."

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Machado secretly escaped Venezuela last month and traveled to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which she dedicated to Trump.

"Let me be very clear. As soon as I learned that we had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I dedicated it to President Trump because I believed at that point that he deserved it," Machado said on "Hannity." "And a lot of people, most people, said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, January 3rd."

Trump said he plans to meet with the Venezuelan opposition leader in Washington next week.

He has previously stated that Machado "doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country" to lead. Trump has supported acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro loyalist, who previously served as vice president under Maduro.

Fox News Digital's Landon Mion contributed to this report.

DC pipe bomb suspect pleads not guilty to planting devices at DNC and RNC headquarters

The man accused of planting pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican parties' headquarters five years ago pleaded not guilty in a court appearance on Friday.

Brian J. Cole, Jr was arrested by the FBI at his home in Virginia in early December, and faces two counts of transporting and attempting to use explosives.

The suspect was indicted on federal charges this week, FOX 5 reported.

He allegedly admitted to planting the bombs, which failed to detonate, in downtown Washington, D.C. on the eve of the Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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Despite initially denying his involvement to investigators, he eventually allegedly admitted to planting the bombs when he was reminded that lying was an additional crime after being shown alleged surveillance video of him at the scene, according to the Justice Department.

"According to the defendant, he was not really thinking about how people would react when the bombs detonated, although he hoped there would be news about it," court documents said, adding that he said he was "relieved" when he heard they hadn’t detonated.

Regarding his motive, Cole said "something just snapped" after "watching everything, just everything getting worse" after the 2020 election, and he wanted to do something, "to the parties" because "they were in charge."

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"Ultimately, it was luck, not lack of effort, that the defendant failed to detonate one or both of his devices and that no one was killed or maimed due to his actions," court documents said. "Indeed, the defendant admitted that he set both devices to detonate 60 minutes after he placed them. His failure to accomplish his objectives does not mitigate the profoundly dangerous nature of his crimes."

Cole also continued to purchase bomb-making materials following the failed Jan. 5 attack, prosecutors said.

He faces 10 years in prison for one charge and 20 years in prison if convicted of the second charge.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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