Trump sent special forces into Caracas ten weeks ago and dragged Nicolás Maduro out in handcuffs.
Tonight Team USA plays Venezuela for the World Baseball Classic title.
The media spent the last 48 hours complaining about a borderline strike call.
America Won and the Media Covered the Losers
Team USA beat the Dominican Republic 2-1 on Sunday night in Miami.
Paul Skenes gave the U.S. 4 2/3 innings of one-run baseball against the most talented roster in the tournament.
Gunnar Henderson tied it with a homer in the third.
Roman Anthony hit the go-ahead shot two batters later.
Five relievers then held a Dominican Republic lineup loaded with MLB All-Stars to two hits and stranded the tying run at third in the ninth.
America won.
Then the cameras found Geraldo Perdomo – the Dominican Republic shortstop who struck out looking on a borderline pitch to end the game – and the story flipped.
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/2033381983175524576?s=20
Perdomo told reporters he knew "100%" it was a ball.
Juan Soto, who went hitless, announced to ESPN that the U.S. had "shown the world who's the best team in baseball" – as if he were on the winning side.
And a large portion of the sports media ran with the grievance angle instead of the American victory.
World Series champion Doug Mientkiewicz – who won a ring with the Boston Red Sox and spent years coaching international players – had seen enough.
"It's a sad day when people who were born here and make a living in this country actually make excuses for a team losing and hoping the USA doesn't win," he wrote on X.
https://twitter.com/DMEASrecruiting/status/2033590077054497052?s=20
"You can cover the games without bias. It was a great game, showcasing the best talent in the world. It had everything – it had mistakes, and everything in between. This is what makes baseball the greatest game in the world."
The Story They Are Deliberately Ignoring
On January 3, U.S. special forces flew into Caracas under the cover of darkness and pulled Nicolás Maduro out of his residence during Operation Absolute Resolve.
Maduro – the dictator who ran Venezuela into the ground for a decade, who the DOJ charged with narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking, who sent Tren de Aragua gang members into American neighborhoods – is sitting in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn right now.
Trump did that.
Ten weeks later, Venezuela's baseball team is in Miami playing for a world title.
The crowd at loanDepot Park will cheer almost entirely for Venezuela tonight, and in Miami that makes perfect sense – because the Venezuelan fans filling those seats are the people Trump was actually fighting for.
They told reporters this week that Maduro's capture was the day they had waited their entire lives for.
"Been waiting for this more than 20 years," one fan said.
These are not America's enemies.
But here is what nobody in the sports media will say: the country that just got liberated from a drug-trafficking dictator is lining up against Team USA tonight – and the American players on that field represent something far bigger than a borderline strike call in the ninth inning.
Finish This Thing
Mientkiewicz closed his post with exactly two words: "FINISH THIS THING."
He is right.
Team USA won the WBC in 2017.
They lost to Japan in the 2023 final.
Now they are back – as a -320 favorite against a Venezuelan squad that has come from behind in back-to-back elimination games, beating Japan in the quarterfinals and Italy in the semifinals.
Venezuela is dangerous.
But Team USA has the best pitching staff in this tournament – opposing hitters are batting just .194 against American arms – and the deepest lineup on the field tonight.
They have everything they need to finish it.
8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Sources:
- Ryan Gaydos, "World Series champ takes issue with coverage around Team USA's win over Dominican Republic," Fox News, March 17, 2026.
- "Nicolas Maduro arrives in New York after capture, arraignment expected Monday," Fox News, January 2026.
- "What you need to know about the 2026 World Baseball Classic final," MLB.com, March 17, 2026.
- Scott Thompson, "Venezuela comes from behind to beat Italy, earn WBC final spot vs Team USA," Fox News, March 17, 2026.
- "2026 World Baseball Classic bracket, schedule," CBS Sports, March 17, 2026.