Donald Trump raised eyebrows and drew ridicule with a post suggesting Venezuela could become the 51st U.S. state.

After Venezuela defeated Italy 4–2 in the World Baseball Classic semifinal on Monday, the president wrote on his Truth Social platform:

Trump has previously floated similar ideas about somehow making Greenland and Canada part of the United States.

A U.S. military operation in January saw Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro seized from his home and taken to the United States, where he remains in custody in New York facing cocaine-trafficking conspiracy charges.

Venezuela is set to face the United States in the World Baseball Classic final in Miami on Tuesday.