Donald Trump has long made little effort to hide his appetite for territorial expansion.
From talking about absorbing Canada, to revisiting control of the Panama Canal, to repeatedly raising the prospect of using force to take Greenland, he’s kept the idea of U.S. enlargement in the public conversation.
Now, a new reported proposal is being framed as even more sweeping than those earlier suggestions.
In January, U.S. forces detained Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cillia Flores, during a laserpoint military operation. Trump later said an interim authority staffed by senior administration figures would oversee Venezuela while Washington decides how and when a “peaceful and just transition” could occur.
Since that operation, U.S. officials have reportedly traveled frequently to Caracas to negotiate arrangements involving American energy and mining firms. The U.S. Embassy reopened in March, and direct flights from the United States restarted last month.
Trump has also claimed U.S. oil companies are preparing to put $100 billion into restoring Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, pointing to the country’s vast reserves.
On Fox News, co-anchor John Roberts—who said he spoke with the president on Monday—reported that Trump is now “seriously considering a move to make Venezuela the 51st state of the United States.”
To some observers, the rhetoric hasn’t come out of nowhere.
In March, after Venezuela best Italy at the World Baseball Classic, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “STATEHOOD, #51, Anyone?”
It can be difficult to tell when Trump is testing an idea versus committing to it—but the latest comments suggest the possibility is being discussed more earnestly.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump described U.S. actions in Venezuela as ‘military genius’. In a Full Measure interview with Sharyl Attkisson that aired 10 May, he also offered an unusually rosy assessment of conditions under American control.
“Venezuela is a very happy country right now,” he said. “They were miserable. Now they’re happy. It’s being well fun. 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.”
As for whether statehood is even possible, it would require congressional approval—and Venezuela would also have to agree.
Even so, Trump has continued to imply he may pursue a takeover regardless. The U.S. has reportedly assembled one of its largest Caribbean naval deployments in decades, and Trump has not ruled out deploying troops to guard Venezuela’s oil facilities.
In January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress the U.S. is not militarily “postured” for action in Venezuela. “The only military presence you will see in Venezuela is our Marine guards at an embassy,” he said. Since then, Trump’s public remarks have pointed in a different direction.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has not set a schedule for elections, saying only they will happen “some time”—fueling concern that the stated push for democracy is no longer the priority.
More than 40 Latin America-focused human rights organizations warned that while Venezuela needs a democratic transition, it “cannot justify the breakdown of international order or legitimize violent and unilateral means that impose the logic of the strongest.”