Trump, 79, Eyes New Country to Become 51st U.S. State

President Donald Trump has big plans for Venezuela.

According to John Roberts, co-anchor of Fox News’s America Reports, the president wants to make the South American nation the 51st state.

His colleague, Bill Melugin, said in his own post that Roberts had told him Trump said “there is $40 trillion in oil there and ‘Venezuela loves Trump.’”

Since striking Venezuela in the middle of the night to kidnap the country’s president and “make Venezuela great again” in early January, Trump, who turns 80 next month, has claimed control of the sovereign nation.

On January 2, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, first lady Cilia Flores, were “captured” by U.S. forces in the middle of the night as part of a large-scale attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

The strike was announced by Trump on Truth Social around 4 a.m. on January 3.

“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement,” Trump wrote.

As outrage grew over the attack, Trump told reporters he had been following the Monroe Doctrine—which he renamed the Donroe Doctrine and that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.” The Monroe Doctrine is a two-century-old policy of U.S. leadership in the Western Hemisphere.

At his press conference in January detailing the offensive, Trump, said the U.S. government would run Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

Since January, the Trump administration has come under repeated criticism from Congress, including Republicans, for its handling of the nation.

Critics see the invasion as a naked attempt to gain access to Venezuelan oil reserves.

Three days after the initial incursion, Trump announced that the “interim authorities” were turning over “between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.”

“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States! I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately. It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States,” he wrote on Truth Social.

In March, the impression that Trump’s invasion was a resource grab only gained more credibility when Trump revealed that more than $100 million in gold had been taken from Venezuela.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said “relations between Venezuela and the United States have been extraordinary” since Trump’s coup and foreshadowed a long partnership, but did not address the president’s plan for statehood.

“Oil is starting to flow and large amounts of money, unseen for many years, will soon be helping the great people of Venezuela. Only President Trump can be credited for the revitalization of this newfound partnership – and the best is yet to come!”

As much as Trump might like the idea of adding Venezuela to the USA, he can’t unilaterally make it happen.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez dismissed the idea. “We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history,” she said. Adding that Venezuela is “not a colony, but a free country.”

Admitting Venezuela to the United States would require an act of Congress, and presumably, the consent of the sovereign nation.

This is not the first time Trump has floated statehood for Venezuela. In March, during the World Baseball Classic, Trump posted twice on Truth Social about adding the winning nation to the USA.

“They are looking really great,” he gushed after Venezuela defeated Italy in the semifinals.

After watching them win the whole thing, the president simply posted: “STATEHOOD!!! President DJT.”