AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump complimented Team Venezuela on Monday night, shortly after it advanced to the World Baseball Classic final.
Venezuela downed undefeated Italy at LoanDepot Park (yes, that’s its name) in Miami. Trailing 2-1 in the seventh, Venezuela rallied for three runs to pull ahead 4-2, which ended up being the final score. On Tuesday, Venezuela will play the U.S. in the title game.
Posting on TruthSocial, Trump acknowledged the victory and suggested that Venezuela become the 51st state.
“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.”
The post comes just two and a half months after Trump ordered the U.S. military to invade Venezuela to abduct then-President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, who have been indicted on drug trafficking charges in the U.S. After the abductions, the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as president.
After the raid, Trump boasted that the U.S. would “keep” Venezuela’s oil. On Jan. 16, Semafor reported that Trump was funneling money from the sale of Venezuelan oil to a bank account in Qatar. The oil was valued at $500 million.
Trump has ordered a series of bombings on Venezuelan and Colombian boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean since at least last summer. The strikes have killed at least 157 people. Trump has alleged the boats were full of “narcoterrorists” trafficking drugs. The administration has provided no evidence to justify the bombings, which are legally suspect, according to experts.
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