President Donald Trump went looking for attention late Sunday night, but what he got instead was a wave of confusion, disbelief, and backlash he clearly didn’t expect.
As world leaders and political observers continue to grapple with the fallout from the U.S. move to remove Venezuela’s president, Trump’s latest online stunt only added to the growing unease surrounding his approach to the crisis.
Trump triggered yet another wave of legal and political backlash after posting a meme that falsely labeled him the “Acting President of Venezuela,” a move critics said crossed from provocation into a potentially unlawful assertion of power amid escalating U.S. involvement in South America.
The post, shared on Truth Social, appeared as a fake screenshot of a Wikipedia entry, declaring Trump had assumed the role of Venezuela’s acting president as of January 2026. No such designation exists on Trump’s actual Wikipedia page, and no U.S. law or international process allows a sitting American president to hold executive office in a foreign country.
It followed Trump’s recent statements that the United States would effectively “run” Venezuela after a surprise U.S. military operation led to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Since then, administration officials have described a sweeping U.S. role in reshaping the country’s government, economy, and oil sector.
The post appeared to be meant as a flex, but the reaction made it clear Trump had wildly misjudged the moment. Rather than looking powerful, the claim quickly became a source of ridicule — with critics questioning whether he even understood what he was implying.
“Isn’t it against the law for the president of the U.S to hold any other office while President? Is this his resignation?” one person wrote.
“That’s so laughable. He’s not even acting president of the United States!” mocked another.
“I bet many Americans wish he’d quit his job as US president to move to Venezuela and do that one,” another joked.
Others saw the post as emblematic of Trump’s disregard for democratic norms.
“Another presidency he didn’t fairly win I see,” one more said.
“I’ve run out of outrage. Nothing he does shocks me anymore,” another person wrote. But I’m sorry to all of our former allies. We are under siege by our own government, under control of a madman. Don’t humor him. Don’t comply. Resist. We live in a stupid timeline.”
Another offered a coping mechanism, “You just have to take it one ‘are you f–king kidding me’ at a time.”
The White House did not clarify whether the post was intended as satire, a threat, or a claim of authority. It also remains unclear how the image was generated.
In reality, Venezuela has an interim government. On Jan. 5, Delcy Rodríguez — Maduro’s vice president and oil minister — was sworn in as interim president. While Rodríguez condemned the detentions, the Trump administration has backed her government while simultaneously warning that she would “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she failed to comply with U.S. demands.
The Trump administration’s posture has come with explicit assertions of control, particularly over Venezuela’s oil industry. Rodríguez has softened her rhetoric in recent days, signaling cooperation on energy. Trump has said the U.S. would receive up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil under her government.
Trump also announced he had canceled a “second wave of attacks” against Venezuela, citing progress on energy cooperation.
“The U.S.A. and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure,” he posted on Truth Social last week.
But in an interview with The New York Times, Trump suggested Washington’s direct role in governing Venezuela remained unsettled. While the interim government is “giving us everything that we feel is necessary,” he said, “only time will tell” when the U.S. would stop seeking direct oversight of Caracas.
Legal scholars note that while the Constitution grants the president sweeping authority over foreign affairs, it does not permit a president to assume office in another sovereign nation. Article II vests executive power solely in the presidency of the United States, while longstanding constitutional norms prohibit officeholders from simultaneously occupying foreign positions of authority.
Supreme Court precedent affirms that the president holds exclusive power to recognize foreign governments — a principle established most clearly in Zivotofsky v. Kerry — but recognition does not equate to governance. The court has repeatedly emphasized that recognition allows the U.S. to acknowledge a foreign sovereign, not replace it.
Trump’s post, critics argue, blurs those constitutional lines at a moment when the administration is already testing the limits of executive authority abroad.
The reaction online reflected growing fatigue with what many view as performative power grabs layered atop real geopolitical consequences. But at least one conservative commenter found humor in Trump’s latest social media antics.
“TRUMP friggin trolled the libs again,” the user said in a post riddled with emojis of the laughing cat face with tears. “it’s friggin funny because he does whatever he wants without regard to ‘morals’ or ‘laws’ or whatever else these stupid friggin libs can pull out next.”
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