The midterms

Trump floated making Venezuela the 51st state.

The Associated Press said he did it Tuesday in Texas, while touting a tanker of Venezuelan oil and campaigning for Ken Paxton. He is due in Ohio today. This photograph is the Port of Corpus Christi, while he is saying it.

The Rocket News · Washington Bureau · Corpus Christi, TexasOctober 28, 2026 · 3 min read

President Trump speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi, mouth open at the microphone, right arm extended. Tuesday, Oct. 27. Ken Paxton is not in the frame.

LUBBOCK, Texas — President Trump, campaigning in Texas on Tuesday, touted a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil and floated making Venezuela the 51st state, the Associated Press reported. It was his third trip to the state in a month, a late push for Republican Ken Paxton and against Democrat James Talarico. He spoke in Corpus Christi and then in Lubbock. Talarico took a stage in Lubbock an hour after Trump finished, across town. He is due in Ohio on Wednesday, the New York Times reported, his third visit to that state this month. Former President Barack Obama is headed to Georgia. This note is the Texas day and the line about Venezuela. It is not a speech that had not yet happened in Ohio.

The photograph is Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Port of Corpus Christi, the rally where he said it. Chris Delcamp made it. Trump is speaking. His mouth is open and his right arm is extended. Paxton is not in the frame. Talarico is not in it. This is not Lubbock, and it is not Ohio. The Associated Press tape of the line is on this note. It runs one minute and thirty-four seconds.

The 51st state.

Video

Trump says 'maybe someday soon' Venezuela will become the 51st state · Associated Press · Watch on Associated Press

Wire and further reading: apnews.com

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