Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, has forcefully dismissed Donald Trump’s suggestion that Washington is “seriously considering” transforming the South American nation into the 51st US state, calling the remark a affront to the country’s hard-won independence and historical identity.
Caracas fires back
Venezuela has angrily rebuffed a statement by Donald Trump in which the US president raised the prospect of turning the country into America’s 51st state, with Caracas issuing a sharp reminder of its sovereignty and historical identity.
Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s acting president, rejected as “unacceptable” the suggestion that Washington was giving serious consideration to such a scenario. Speaking from The Hague, where she is attending proceedings at the International Court of Justice over the long-running border dispute with Guyana concerning the oil-rich Essequibo region, Rodríguez dismissed the notion outright.
Maduro gone, but crisis remains
Trump made the comments during an interview, pointing to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves as a strategic prize. The US president has previously floated similar ideas on his Truth Social platform, albeit in a more ironic tone. However, the latest remarks come against a backdrop of deepening political turmoil in Caracas following a US-backed operation in January 2026 that removed Nicolás Maduro from power. Rodríguez has served as acting head of state ever since.
“If there is one thing that defines Venezuelans, it is our love for our independence and our history,” Rodríguez told reporters, responding to a question about Trump’s comments. “We will not trade our identity for anyone’s fantasy.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly signalled its strategic interest in Venezuela’s oil industry, and the president himself has made several provocative statements about the country’s future status. In March 2026, he made a similar “51st state” allusion following the Venezuelan baseball team’s success in the World Baseball Classic – a remark that drew sharp criticism across Spanish-language media and from Latin American political figures.
All bluff, no blueprint
The latest iteration is seen as more pointed, coming as it does in the midst of international legal proceedings and following months of heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas.
From a legal standpoint, the scenario Trump envisages has no straightforward mechanism for implementation. Absorbing a foreign nation as a US state would require the political consent of the country in question, an act of the US Congress, and a highly complex process under international law. Most observers therefore view Trump’s words less as a concrete plan than as a political gesture – brash, transactional, and unmistakably his own.
