Trump Offers Simple, Provocative Message After Team USA’s Baseball Classic Loss To Venezuela
on Mar 18, 2026
The President Responded To Team USA’s Defeat At The World Baseball Classic By Calling For Venezuela’s Statehood
“America’s pastime” is baseball, but it’s still “one, two, three strikes you’re out in the old ball game.”
On March 17, at the World Baseball Classic, the United States was pitted against Venezuela.
This matchup for the title comes over two months since the United States military conducted a “large scale strike” against Venezuela on Jan. 3, culminating in the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Since then, the United States has been advising on the governance of Venezuela, but has not “run” the nation as President Donald Trump had originally stated.
These tensions were simmering in the background at the World Baseball Classic.
Ultimately, Venezuela won 3-2 against Team USA.
Responding to this loss, Trump simply posted on Truth Social, “STATEHOOD!!!”
The post can be seen, here:
This call for Venezuelan statehood came a day after Trump had responded to Venezuela besting Italy, 4-2, writing, “Good things are happening to Venezuela lately! I wonder what this magic is all about? STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?”
But could this be a reality?
RELATED: Trump Announces U.S. Will “Run” Venezuela Following Capture Of President Maduro
Could Venezuela Become The 51st State?
A new state has not been admitted into the Union since 1959, which saw both Alaska and Hawaii receive statehood, as approved by Congress.
The chances of Venezuela achieving statehood are slim, and that’s largely because the nation is still being led by the Maduro regime.
Presently, Venezuela is governed by acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president from 2018 to 2026.
Further, pushes for statehood for Washington, D.C., as well as the American territory of Puerto Rico have precedence.
In 2016, a measure to prompt Congress to consider statehood for Washington, D.C., was on the ballot, and it passed among voters by 79%.
This was then taken to Congress, where the House of Representatives approved the bill, which would see D.C. named State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. Movement on this bill has not progressed past the Senate.
Similarly, in 2024, the American territory of Puerto Rico also held a vote, with 56% of voters approving statehood.
Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show,” which was put on as an alternative to Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show performance at Super Bowl LX, received some criticism for seemingly discounting that Puerto Rico has been a territory held by the United States since 1898.
Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917.
Then, of course, there’s also Greenland, which Trump has eyed as a territory which — were it to be under the United States’ purview instead of that of Denmark — could bolster security for North America as a whole, he posits.
RELATED: President Trump Says “Our Nation Is Back” In 1st State Of The Union Of His 2nd Term
