Trump Floats Idea of Venezuela as 51st US State

US President Donald Trump suggested on 27 October that Venezuela might one day become the 51st US state. He spoke at a midterm election rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, while discussing the deal reached with the Venezuelan government after former president Nicolas Maduro was removed from power. The remarks bear on US–Venezuelan relations and on the oil market.

What Trump said

Trump told the crowd that Venezuela would become a prosperous country and added: "Who knows? Maybe soon it will become a prosperous 51st state." He described the agreement as "the biggest victory in the history of the oil industry".

Addressing his supporters, the president thanked Venezuela, saying relations had become "very, very good, wonderful". At the rally Trump also displayed a tanker which, by his account, held one million barrels of oil from Venezuela. The details were reported by The Guardian.

Background

In August, Trump announced what he called the "biggest ever" oil deal with Venezuela. According to him, it gives the United States control over more than 60 billion barrels of the country's proven oil reserves.

In the spring, Trump posted on his social network an image of a map showing Venezuela in the colours of the American flag, labelled "51st state".