President Trump said on Monday that he’s “seriously considering” making Venezuela the 51st U.S. state.
“President Trump tells @FoxNews colleague @johnrobertsFox in a phone call just now that he is ‘seriously considering making Venezuela the 51st US state’, adding that there is $40 trillion in oil there and ‘Venezuela loves Trump,'” Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin said.
NEW: President Trump tells @FoxNews colleague @johnrobertsFox in a phone call just now that he is “seriously considering making Venezuela the 51st US state”, adding that there is $40 trillion in oil there and “Venezuela loves Trump”.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 11, 2026
More from The Independent:
Following Maduro’s capture in January, White House officials have shuttled back and forth to Caracas to broker deals with U.S. energy and mining companies while trying to forge closer ties to interim President Delcy Rodríguez and her administration — talks that have accelerated as the U.S. war with Iran threatens global energy supplies.
Trump — who cannot legally declare Venezuela the 51st state without congressional approval or Venezuela’s consent — has not ruled out military intervention when it comes to his imperial ambitions to occupy Greenland. When it comes to Venezuela, the U.S. has already built up one of the largest naval fleets in the Caribbean in decades and continues a deadly streak of bombings against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the region.
Trump told reporters at the White House Monday that U.S. operations in Venezuela were “military genius.”
ADVERTISEMENT“Venezuela is a very happy country right now,” Trump also told Full Measure’s Sharyl Attkisson in an interview that aired May 10.
“They were miserable. Now they’re happy. It’s being well run,” he said. “The oil that’s coming out is enormous, the biggest in many years. And the big oil companies are going in with the biggest, most beautiful rigs you’ve ever seen.”
In March, Trump floated the idea of making Venezuela the 51st state after its victory against Italy in World Baseball Classic.
“Wow! Venezuela defeated Italy tonight, 4-2, in the WBC (Baseball!) Semifinal. They are looking really great. Good things are happening to Venezuela lately! I wonder what this magic is all about STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?” Trump wrote.
The Washington Examiner noted:
Following the Jan. 3 operation to capture Maduro and bring him back to the states to stand trial, the president has pressured American oil companies to return to Venezuela to boost oil production and refinement.
U.S. flights to Venezuela resumed earlier this month. Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela’s interim president, spoke with American reporters who traveled on the first flight and vowed to hold new elections “sometime,” but declined to provide any details on the official timeline.
