The United States currently has 50 states, but Donald Trump appears keen to expand that number.
In recent days, a Fox News anchor suggested Trump was weighing the idea of adding Venezuela as a new state.
‘seriously considering’
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, quickly dismissed the suggestion, but Trump doesn’t seem to be backing away from the chatter.
It’s been more than 60 years since the US last added a state. Hawaii became the 50th on August 21, 1959, after Alaska joined earlier that same year as the 49th.
Now, speculation has ramped up again after a new post appeared on social media.
Shared on both Truth Social and The White House X account, the post showed a map in which Venezuela was filled with the US flag.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 12, 2026
The post went live roughly 12 hours after the Fox News comment surfaced and appeared to be uploaded while Trump was traveling to Beijing.
It didn’t include any explanation beyond a short label.
‘51st State’
Rodríguez addressed the reports earlier this week while speaking to journalists in the Netherlands, according to The Associated Press.
“We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history,” The Associated Press reported.
She also emphasized that the country is not under someone else’s rule.
‘free country’
‘not a colony’
The renewed attention follows major developments earlier this year. In January, the US launched airstrikes on Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
Afterwards, Trump set out how the US would proceed.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,”
‘peace, liberty and justice’
Even so, this may not be the only conversation Trump has entertained about a potential 51st state.
It isn’t the first time he’s floated the idea of expanding the US map. Earlier this year, he reportedly raised the prospect of Canada becoming the 51st state during talks with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“The president brings this up all the time. He brought it up yesterday. He brought it up before,”
Carney later made his position clear.
“To be clear, as I’ve said to anyone who’s raised this issue in private or in public, including the president, it will never happen.”
Trump has also previously spoken about wanting to acquire Greenland.
For all the speculation, the US president cannot simply add a new state by himself. Any change would require approval from Congress as well as consent from Venezuela. Based on Rodríguez’s remarks, that doesn’t appear likely anytime soon.