President Donald Trump trolled critics by giving himself a new job title: Acting President of Venezuela.
In a Truth Social post late Sunday, Trump shared an image of his Wikipedia page that lists his job titles and dates. The new "job" was listed under the photo.
The post comes after Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado told Fox News that she would "share" the Nobel Peace Prize with Trump as he took a big "first step" to reestablishing legitimate democracy in the country.
The actual Wikipedia article was not changed.
Commentators were quick to respond, calling out the seriousness of Trump's joke.
"Not satire. Effective January 2026. 248 years of American history. Zero presidents have ever publicly declared executive authority over a foreign nation. Until today. 303 billion barrels. 17 percent of global reserves. The world’s largest oil reserves. Now explicitly claimed under American authority," wrote independent analyst Shanaka Anslem Perera.
He added: "Nine days ago: Maduro captured. Today: Formal annexation declared. Markets are pricing this as theater. .. When the world realizes this isn’t a joke, the repricing won’t be gradual. It will be violent."
"If Trump is the acting president of Venezuela, then why did the State Department just reissue a Level 4 travel advisory warning Americans to leave there immediately?" said commentator Alex Cole on X.
"... Trump declaring himself 'acting president of Venezuela' is flagrantly illegal and a violation of Venezuela's sovereignty and independence. It's also gross imperialism that threatens global security," commented educator and sociologist, Dr. DaShanne Stokes on BlueSky.
Reporter Luke McGee posted, "Imagine being the staffer who thought to do this, excitedly took it to the boss and got the go ahead. I think we need to take Trump’s criticisms of democracy elsewhere with a wheelbarrow of salt. Trump posts image declaring himself 'acting president' of Venezuela."
"@POTUS — also now the Acting President of #Venezuela — sure has prepared a full plate for himself (and the rest of us) recently. ... Markets are having a harder time ignoring all this," said Chris Temple, editor and publisher of The National Investor.
Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Indy Vets for America, noted, "This is not funny, normal or acceptable on any level. He continues to damage our international credibility and trust one move at a time. And this impacts how every American man and woman in uniform stationed worldwide is seen. Our enemies are celebrating."
Comedian Dash MacIntyre, however, mocked Trump with a humorous fake news report: "BREAKING: After Donald Trump just tweeted out a trolling post that says he's the 'Acting President of Venezuela,' Venezuelan officials trolled him back by announcing they were indicting him for sex-trafficking and launching impeachment proceedings."
"...in case you're wondering about his mental health," added Allison Gill's "Mueller She Wrote."
Several people, including actor Nichole Hiltz, declared themselves the new "Acting President of the United States of America."
