Type or namespace name 'MySQL' could not be found VS2017

In terminal after navigating to your project directory, run the following commands

dotnet add package MySql.Data -v 8.0

Solved this issue! Turns out the newest MySql.Data.dll is built off of .Net Framework 4.5.2, while my project was using .Net Framework 3.5 Client Profile.

Changing my project's framework to 4.5.2 solved the issue. It's quite strange that VS doesn't give a better error message.

To change your project's framework right click on your project (not the solution), select Properties -> Application -> Target framework. The target framework is a dropdown on that page.

I came to this realization thanks to another stackoverflower question: Namespace not recognized (even though it is there)