Donald Trump — 79 years old, commander-in-chief, and apparently still incapable of grasping geopolitics or humility — just upped his personal résumé in a way no seasoned diplomat, sane strategist, or sober observer expected.
In a Truth Social post that can best be described as “capitol-off idiocy,” Trump proclaimed himself the “acting president of Venezuela. Yes, that, Venezuela — a sovereign nation with its own leadership and constitution.
The bizarre maneuver was delivered with the subtlety of a toddler waving crayons on the Declaration of Independence: Trump shared an edited Wikipedia screenshot showing himself as Venezuela’s top dog alongside his titles as the 45th and 47th U.S. president.
This extravagant self-coronation comes in the wake of a U.S. military operation that detained Venezuela’s actual leader, Nicolás Maduro, on “narcoterrorism” charges in New York — a brazen action that already stretched international decorum. After Maduro was taken into custody, Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, stepped in as actual acting president of Venezuela. Not Trump. Not even close.
But Trump’s logic appears to be: if you topple a leader with a military raid and keep their oil flowing toward America, you deserve the title. So rather than let Venezuelans or the world sort out who’s actually in charge, he simply decided that he is. And then bragged about it online like he’d unlocked a new level of a video game.
Oh, and it gets weirder. Trump didn’t just claim control over Venezuela’s leadership — he also insists he’ll control millions of barrels of its oil, touting a plan to turn over “between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels” to U.S. markets. The rhetoric wasn’t subtle: the money will be controlled by me. That’s… governance? Or a deeply unsettling oil-soaked flex? Hard to tell.
In a White House meeting with oil execs, Trump tried to sell his Venezuelan masterplan — including a $100 billion investment pitch — but not everyone was impressed. The CEO of ExxonMobil reportedly balked, calling Venezuela “uninvestable,” which apparently triggered Trump’s wrath: “I’ll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out,” he snarled.
This isn’t a quirky campaign stunt or a bizarre meme headline. It’s the sitting U.S. president effectively rewriting global leadership charts on a whim, broadcast to the world like some deranged alternate reality. If this isn’t the poster child for unchecked political narcissism, nothing is.
