Trump at his Texas rally on Venezuela: ‘Let’s make it the 51st state’

Donald Trump has found a new way to fill up the tank: annex the country the oil came from. At Tuesday’s rally at the Port of Corpus Christi, he pointed at the water: “See that little ship out there? It’s got one million barrels of oil on it from Venezuela.” He called it “the greatest oil victory in history,” courtesy of “our big victory in our recent war with Venezuela,” and said the oil comes at “zero cost.” That’s his claim.

Then came the real estate pitch. After thanking Venezuela for a relationship that’s become “a great one,” he mused: “who knows, maybe someday soon it will become a prosperous 51st state. That’s possible.” Then he skipped the musing: “Let’s make it the 51st state, and instead of a president, we’ll have an election for a governor. How about that?” Statehood, apparently, comes with a free downgrade.

Next he spotted oilman Harold Hamm in the crowd and passed on the geology tip he says Hamm gave him: “You know how you find oil in Venezuela? You look on the ground. There it is.” Then he pitched it again: “Now, let’s make it, Harold, the 51st state. You like that?” He answered his own poll: “I do. I do.”