United States President, Donald Trump, on Tuesday shared a provocative map on his Truth Social platform showing Venezuela overlaid with an American flag and labelled “51st State.”
The post was published while he was travelling to China for a high-level summit and comes a day after Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, rejected suggestions that her country could become part of the United States, insisting it had “never” considered such a move even after the January capture of former president Nicolás Maduro by US forces.
On Monday, Trump told Fox News he was “seriously” considering the idea of incorporating the oil-rich South American nation as a new US state, repeating comments he has made in recent months about Washington’s control over Venezuela’s energy resources.
Rodríguez, who has led the country since Maduro’s removal, has overseen a gradual easing of tensions with the United States, including reforms that reopened Venezuela’s mining and oil sectors to foreign investors, particularly American firms.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s opposition continues to press for elections, while Rodríguez said on May 1 that she “didn’t know” when a new vote would happen, adding only that it would take place “sometime.”
