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  "path": "/post/207845/donald-trump-venezuela-51-state",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-17T13:20:27.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "Politics",
    "Republican Party",
    "Donald Trump",
    "Foreign Policy",
    "Venezuela",
    "Canada",
    "Venezuelan government",
    "annexation",
    "Statehood",
    "wrote",
    "friendlier to U.S. oil interests",
    "similar gambit",
    "disastrous results",
    "could be next",
    "Greenland"
  ],
  "textContent": "Donald Trump is joking about making a new fifty-first state.\n\nThe president took to Truth Social Monday night to celebrate—and take credit for—Venezuela’s victory in the semifinal round of the World Baseball Classic.\n\n“Wow! Venezuela defeated Italy tonight, 4-2, in the WBC (Baseball!) Semifinal. They are looking really great. Good things are happening to Venezuela lately! I wonder what this magic is all about? STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?” he wrote.\n\nIt was a particularly dark joke from the leader who abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. Afterward, Trump claimed that the United States would “run the country now” and would likely keep its hands in Venezuela for years. While the new regime Trump has installed looks a lot like the old one—it’s run by Maduro’s former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez—it’s friendlier to U.S. oil interests. Now Trump’s trying a similar gambit in Iran—but with much more disastrous results.\n\nTrump has previously warned that Cuba could be next for annexation.\n\nTrump continually made gestures last year at annexing both Canada and Greenland, but thankfully hasn’t launched an all-out coup.",
  "title": "Trump Suggests Bonkers Plan for Venezuela"
}