MS NOW⁠95%

Trump adds yet another foreign country to his list of possible new U.S. states ⁠79%

By Steve Benen⁠95%

5/12/2026, 8:19:19 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 25 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, False Dilemma, and Appeal to Emotion, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 18% saturation with 92 hits. Analysis detected 964 faulty-reasoning hits from 512 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 70.1% and a BS Rank of ⁠79% (4,750 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 78.30% of the article peer group.

Earlier this year, on the first anniversary of his second inaugural, Donald Trump posted an item to his social media platform that raised eyebrows here and abroad. 
It showed the Republican president in the Oval Office alongside a large image showing much of the Western Hemisphere, including the entirety of Canada and Greenland covered in American flags, as if they were part of the United States. 
But those who looked closely might have noticed that there was another country, farther down in the image, that was also covered in the red, white and blue: Venezuela, which Trump had bombed two weeks earlier. 
It was an early indication that the Republican had imperialistic ambitions toward the South American country, but it wasn’t the last such hint. 
In mid-March, after Venezuela defeated Italy in a World Baseball Classic game, Trump wrote on his social media platform, “Good things are happening to Venezuela lately! 
I wonder what this magic is all about? 
STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?” 
This week, he made clear that the idea remains on his mind. 
USA Today reported: 
More than five months after the United States captured now-former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump has again suggested that his administration would try to annex the oil-rich country. 
The president told Fox News correspondent John Roberts on Monday, May 11, that he was now “seriously considering a move to make Venezuela the 51st state.” 
His serious considerations notwithstanding, there’s no reason whatsoever to think this is likely to happen. 
Indeed, Delcy Rodríguez, the acting leader of Venezuela, wasted little time in pushing back against Trump’s reported comments, telling reporters that Venezuela would “never” consider the idea of statehood because the country loves its independence and would continue to defend it. 
For that matter, even if Venezuelans were interested in such a radical move, it would be up to Congress to approve the idea, and there’s no reason to believe there’s any appetite along these lines on Capitol Hill. 
But this struck me as notable anyway for a reason that might not be immediately obvious. 
Since getting elected to a second term, Trump has repeatedly talked about trying to make Canada the 51st state. 
There was related talk about making Greenland a state, too. 
Now, evidently, the incumbent American president has related ambitions about Venezuela. 
Those who hear such talk and shrug it off as nonsense are right to be skeptical, but I’m struck by the fact that in GOP circles, it’s not uncommon to hear Republicans condemn Democratic talk about making the District of Columbia and/or Puerto Rico states. 
Indeed, just last week, Republican Sen. 
Ron Johnson of Wisconsin mentioned this during an on-air interview as if it were part of his own personal nightmare. 
And that’s precisely why I’m interested in Trump’s incessant talk about adding to the United States: The more the president focuses on this, the more this becomes less of a debate about whether to add new states and more about which states to add. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 6.6%Steve Benen: 10.5%MS NOW: 7.5%Confirmation Bias6.6%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.6%MS NOW: 1.2%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 5.9%Steve Benen: 3.7%MS NOW: 3.7%Availability Heuristic5.9%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.9%MS NOW: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 7.0%Steve Benen: 1.9%MS NOW: 1.3%Hindsight Bias7.0%This article: 2.9%Steve Benen: 3.1%MS NOW: 2.6%Overconfidence Bias2.9%This article: 8.6%Steve Benen: 23.0%MS NOW: 15.4%Framing Effect8.6%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.4%MS NOW: 0.7%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.8%MS NOW: 0.9%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.1%MS NOW: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.3%MS NOW: 2.4%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 9.8%Steve Benen: 3.1%MS NOW: 3.2%Pessimism Bias9.8%This article: 18.0%Steve Benen: 29.0%MS NOW: 19.2%Negativity Bias18.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 2.1%MS NOW: 2.4%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 4.7%MS NOW: 3.1%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.3%MS NOW: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 8.8%Steve Benen: 3.4%MS NOW: 3.5%In-Group Bias8.8%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 3.2%MS NOW: 2.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.9%MS NOW: 2.2%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 4.4%MS NOW: 1.8%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.1%MS NOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 3.7%Steve Benen: 2.9%MS NOW: 1.8%Recency Bias3.7%This article: 3.1%Steve Benen: 0.8%MS NOW: 0.6%Primacy Effect3.1%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.2%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 7.8%MS NOW: 4.7%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.6%MS NOW: 1.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 0.6%Steve Benen: 6.3%MS NOW: 5.4%Appeal to Authority0.6%This article: 14.6%Steve Benen: 1.6%MS NOW: 2.2%False Dilemma14.6%This article: 8.6%Steve Benen: 1.7%MS NOW: 2.2%Slippery Slope8.6%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 9.6%Steve Benen: 8.9%MS NOW: 8.1%Hasty Generalization9.6%This article: 3.1%Steve Benen: 0.7%MS NOW: 0.7%Red Herring3.1%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.2%MS NOW: 0.9%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 11.9%Steve Benen: 11.3%MS NOW: 9.8%Appeal to Emotion11.9%This article: 2.1%Steve Benen: 3.5%MS NOW: 2.4%Begging the Question2.1%This article: 4.5%Steve Benen: 3.3%MS NOW: 3.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)4.5%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.8%MS NOW: 0.6%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 7.4%Steve Benen: 1.4%MS NOW: 0.9%Burden of Proof7.4%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.0%MS NOW: 0.1%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 2.0%MS NOW: 2.6%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.1%MS NOW: 0.2%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 10.9%Steve Benen: 1.9%MS NOW: 1.7%Ambiguity (Equivocation)10.9%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.0%MS NOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.1%MS NOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.5%MS NOW: 0.3%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.3%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 2.2%MS NOW: 1.3%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 5.1%Steve Benen: 3.8%MS NOW: 2.5%Unattributed Quote5.1%This article: 0.6%Steve Benen: 2.6%MS NOW: 1.5%Quote-first Misdirection0.6%This article: 17.4%Steve Benen: 22.9%MS NOW: 14.2%Biased Writer Voice17.4%This article: 8.6%Steve Benen: 1.4%MS NOW: 2.1%Indoctrination8.6%This article: 8.8%Steve Benen: 8.6%MS NOW: 5.3%Politically Left Leaning Bias8.8%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.6%MS NOW: 0.6%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.4%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

512 words analyzed.

Speakers

4speakers25%attributed speech385writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 36 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 100.0% coverageDonald Trump • 26 words • 100.0% coverageDonald Trump • 8 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 3 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageUSA Today • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 30 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageDelcy Rodríguez • 41 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 38 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 45 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageRon Johnson of Wisconsin • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 44 words • 100.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
20 attributed words16% of attributed speech95% writer coverage
0%12.5%25.0%Biased Writer Voice-23.1 ptsWriter: 23.1%Ron Johnson of Wisconsin: 0.0%0.0%Politically Left Leaning B-11.7 ptsWriter: 11.7%Ron Johnson of Wisconsin: 0.0%0.0%Indoctrination-11.4 ptsWriter: 11.4%Ron Johnson of Wisconsin: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.