He did it. It comes as no surprise, as it conforms to his character, but still. He did it. Trump stood there for his photo op, grinning, next to Venezuela opposition leader, María Corina Machado, holding the framed prize.

In the background, you can see the gold doodads Trump adores, what to his mind scream wealth, power and importance. After all, he was a kid from Queens who was never accepted by the old money of New York because he was vulgar and ignorant, the sort of person one didn’t invite for dinner. That’s why he was best friends with someone like Jeffrey Epstein, who was also a pariah among the wealthy, though for somewhat different reasons.

As earlier noted, Machado gave her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump because she loves her country. There are more important things to her than a gold disk, such as the welfare of her nation, which for the moment is held in the grubby hands of a man who sees only a source of oil money to be plundered as he plays footsie with the compliant former vice president who is willing to do his bidding as long as it keeps her out of a cell or free from a hail of bullets.

But for Trump, this was the way to take physical possession of a prize he wanted so desperately. Accumulating prizes would prove his worth and stroke his fragile ego. That he was not awarded the prize by the Nobel Prize Committee, the only party capable of doing so, was of little concern to him, even if most people would see that as a hurdle so huge it could not be jumped.

This is their way of saying that while Machado can hand over her medal, she cannot award the prize. This is their way of saying that while Trump can take Machado’s medal, he has not been awarded the prize. His possession of the prize is little different than if he found it in the garbage and claimed it was now his.

But there is something else happening here that needs to be said. Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize in Trump’s hands is the epitome of dishonor. No honorable person would accept a Nobel Peace Prize awarded to another person.* It is not his. It will never be his. If there was an iota of honor in his body, he would realize this, and he would reply to Machado’s gracious effort to court Trump’s favor by saying, “Thank you, but this is yours and as much as I appreciate the gesture, it should remain with you.”

Trump didn’t say this. Trump took it and grinned.

There was little question before that Trump was a vulgar, lying, narcissistic ignoramus. There was no question that he lacked grace, unable to admit defeat in an election and unable to offer holiday wishes without attacking his enemies in his infantile way. But now we know that he is devoid of honor as well. The Machado Nobel Peace Prize should hang in the Oval Office, for now, and later in Trump’s most trusted location like the bathroom at Mar-a-lago, as a monument to his lack of honor.

Some will say the Nobel Prize in Trump’s hands means nothing. But it does have meaning. Just not the meaning he desperately hopes it would. Behold the Nobel Prize. Behold the absence of any honor.

*Pre-empting the MAGA faithful reply of “but what about Obama,” it’s only relevance here is that if the prize was given without justification to Obama, an entirely fair position, then why does Trump want it so desperately? Beyond that, the “whatabout” argument is irrelevant, except to those who will grasp at anything to excuse Trump’s trespasses.