Trump’s one-word tease after Venezuela upsets USA in WBC Final reignites his 51st state quip

WASHINGTON, DC: After Venezuela edged out the United States 3-2 in the World Baseball Classic final in Miami, President Donald Trump offered a one-word reaction in full caps.

Shortly after the final out, Trump posted on Truth Social, “STATEHOOD!!! President DJT.”

Venezuela gets the win, Trump floats “statehood” again

Venezuela built a 2-0 lead before the U.S. clawed back in the eighth inning, when Bryce Harper launched a game-tying two-run homer. But that momentum didn’t last long. In the top of the ninth, Eugenio Suárez ripped an RBI double to push Venezuela ahead 3-2, a lead they wouldn’t give back.

Closer Daniel Palencia then shut the door with a clean 1-2-3 inning, sealing Venezuela’s first-ever World Baseball Classic title.

Venezuela’s win came barely two and a half months after Trump ordered a military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.

It's worth noting that Trump’s postgame remark wasn’t exactly out of the blue.

A day earlier, after Venezuela beat Italy in the semifinal, he had already floated the idea of Venezuela becoming part of the United States.

“Wow! Venezuela defeated Italy tonight, 4-2, in the WBC (Baseball!) Semifinal,” he wrote. “They are looking really great. Good things are happening to Venezuela lately! I wonder what this magic is all about? STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE? President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

US cements grip on Venezuelan oil

Maduro and Flores are currently facing federal drug trafficking charges in Manhattan and have pleaded not guilty. In their absence, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed power and has since taken a notably cooperative stance with Washington.

“We’re gonna take back the oil,” Trump said after Maduro’s capture. He added that “very large United States oil companies” will “go in” and “spend billions of dollars,” promising, “We’re gonna be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground.”

Shortly after the raid, he also boasted the U.S. would “keep” Venezuela’s oil. A January report said proceeds from Venezuelan oil sales (valued at $500 million) were being funneled into U.S.-controlled bank accounts in Qatar.

Still, relations between the two countries appear to be warming, at least on paper. Diplomatic ties have been restored, the U.S. has reopened its embassy in Caracas for the first time in seven years, and Washington has formally recognized Rodríguez as Venezuela’s head of state.

Rodríguez, who initially blasted Maduro’s capture as a “kidnapping,” has since aligned with U.S. demands. Trump had warned that any uncooperative leader could face a fate “worse than Maduro's."

Since taking power, she has signed off on supplying 50 million barrels of crude to the U.S., opened Venezuela’s vast oil reserves (estimated at 303–304 billion barrels) to private companies, and overseen the release of hundreds of political prisoners.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the Economic Club of Minnesota in January that his department “will oversee the accounts” and “then, at the president’s direction [and] Secretary Rubio’s direction… be in charge of the disbursement that goes back into Venezuela.”