President Donald Trump’s repeated musings about Venezuela becoming the 51st U.S. state drew a sharp response Monday from interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, who said the country would never surrender its independence.
“That is not contemplated. It would never be contemplated because if there is one thing Venezuelan men and women have, it is that we love our independence process,” Rodríguez told reporters in The Hague after Trump said he was “seriously” considering the possibility of Venezuela eventually joining the United States.
The remarks marked Trump’s strongest public comments yet on an idea he has floated repeatedly in recent months, often half-jokingly, as Washington deepens its political and economic influence over Venezuela following the January operation in Caracas that resulted in the capture of strongman Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores.
Speaking Monday in an interview with Fox News, Trump argued that Venezuelans “love Trump” and pointed to the country’s massive oil reserves as a major strategic incentive.
According to Fox News reporter John Roberts, Trump’s comments about turning Venezuela into the 51st state were no joke.
Roberts wrote on X that Trump told him during a phone call Monday that he was “seriously considering” making Venezuela part of the United States.
“Just got off the phone with realDonaldTrump … he told me he is seriously considering a move to make Venezuela the 51st state,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts added that Trump pointed to Venezuela’s vast oil wealth and said the country “loves Trump.”
He also said Trump privately described Venezuela’s oil reserves as potentially worth $40 trillion and argued that the South American nation had become increasingly aligned with Washington since Maduro’s ouster.
Since Maduro’s capture during the pre-dawn U.S. operation in Caracas on Jan. 3, the Trump administration has dramatically expanded its involvement in Venezuela’s oil sector and political transition, backing Rodríguez — Maduro’s former vice president — as head of an interim government while encouraging American energy companies to return to the country after years of sanctions and nationalizations.
Trump has repeatedly argued that restoring Venezuela’s oil industry is essential to stabilizing the country’s economy and rebuilding democratic institutions after years of authoritarian rule and economic collapse.
Senior White House officials and energy advisers have spent months courting major oil companies to increase investments in Venezuela, where production has surged in recent months amid a broader reopening of the sector.
According to the White House, Venezuelan oil exports surpassed 1 million barrels per day in April, their highest level since 2018 but still far below the roughly 3 million barrels per day Venezuela produced before late President Hugo Chávez launched his socialist revolution after taking power in 1999.
“As the President has said, relations between Venezuela and the United States have been extraordinary,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Oil is starting to flow, and large amounts of money, unseen for many years, will soon be helping the great people of Venezuela.”
Rodríguez, while firmly rejecting any suggestion of annexation, avoided escalating tensions with Washington and emphasized that her government intends to maintain cooperative relations with the United States.
“That is the course. That is the path,” she said.
She also underscored Venezuela’s strategic importance as an energy producer, noting that the country possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves and some of the largest natural gas reserves.
“Our history is a history of glory of men and women who gave their lives so that we would not be a colony, but a free country,” Rodríguez said.
Trump first publicly floated the idea of Venezuelan statehood in March after Venezuela defeated Italy in the semifinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Posting on Truth Social, he wrote that “good things are happening to Venezuela lately” before asking: “STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?”
He has also joked in recent months about potentially running in future Venezuelan elections, claiming he would receive overwhelming support from voters there.
Despite the increasingly close relationship between Caracas and Washington under the transitional arrangement, Trump’s repeated comments about annexation have generated unease among Venezuelans across the political spectrum, where the country’s independence movement and anti-colonial identity remain deeply rooted in the national consciousness.
Rodríguez assumed the presidency after Maduro’s removal from power earlier this year in a transition U.S. officials have described as part of a broader effort to stabilize Venezuela, revive its economy and eventually steer the country toward elections.