Canada and Greenland can breathe easy—Donald Trump has found a new candidate to be America’s 51st state.
Trump, 79, posted on Truth Social at around 11:15 p.m after apparently watching Venezuela defeat Italy in the World Baseball Classic semifinal in Miami on Monday.
“Good things are happening to Venezuela lately!” Trump posted. “I wonder what this magic is all about? STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE? President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Trump has previously earmarked both Canada and Greenland as potential 51st states of America.
But his sporty Truth Social post suggests Venezuela—a South American country that sits on the world’s largest oil reserves—is also on his mind.
In January, Trump directed the U.S. military to forcibly kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a late-night raid on Caracas.
Trump’s post came just hours after he forgot who it was he installed as leader of the country after the removal of Maduro, who was flown to the U.S to face trial on drug-trafficking charges.
During a news conference earlier on Monday, Trump said “Venezuela, who’s been great, by the way, the relationship with Venezuela has been fantastic.”
“The president has done a really good job. We get along with him really well,” Trump added.
The acting president, Delcy Rodríguez—who was Maduro’s vice president and has led the country since Trump’s military raid—is a woman.
Trump’s 51st state fantasy has previously seen him set his eyes on acquiring Greenland, even threatening to use military force to obtain the Arctic territory as part of his global vision.
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” the White House said in January.
Greenland is a self-governing democratic territory of Denmark, a U.S. ally.
During the World Economic Forum in Davos Trump framed the acquisition of Greenland as a U.S. national security imperative.
“You can say ‘Yes,’ and we will be very appreciative,” Trump said at the forum. “Or you can say ‘No,’ and we will remember.”
Last year, Trump told Time magazine he was “really not trolling” about his desire to make Canada the 51st state.
When pressed if he was actually “trolling” with his repeated mentions of annexing Canada and making it part of the United States, the president replied: “No, I’m not actually.”
“I think Canada, what you said that, ‘Well, that one, I might be trolling.’ But I’m really not trolling,” he said.
Trump has complained that America is losing billions through trade deficits with Canada and has slapped tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium and automobiles.
The president has also recently threatened to block the opening of a $4.6 billion bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan, with Windsor, Ontario, demanding that the U.S. be given 50 percent ownership.
He posted a lengthy rant on Truth Social last month that began, “As everyone knows, the Country of Canada has treated the United States very unfairly for decades.”
