On October 27th, local time, Trump said during a campaign rally in Texas that the United States had exploited a large amount of oil in Venezuela. He once again engaged in rhetoric, claiming that Venezuela could become “the 51st state of the United States”.
Trump boasted that Venezuela has provided the United States with a lot of oil. "It could become a prosperous country. Who knows? Maybe soon it will become the 51st state that contributes to American prosperity. It's not impossible. Let's wait and see. Let's welcome this 51st state. Then there won't be a need for presidential elections anymore; we can just elect a governor."
Trump also specifically mentioned his loyal supporter, American oil tycoon Harold Hamm. He shouted at Hamm from afar: "Now, Harold, let’s make this place the 51st state. Do you like it? I do."
The US newspaper The Hill reported that Trump has made such statements on several occasions. Earlier this year, he stated that he was “seriously considering” making Venezuela a state of the United States. He also made similar remarks about Canada.
In January this year, after the US forces took control of Venezuelan President Maduro, the US government signed a series of oil project agreements with Venezuela. In August, Trump posted on social media that the US and Venezuela had reached an oil cooperation agreement, giving the US "major control" over Venezuela's reserves of over 65 billion barrels of oil.
On October 17, Venezuelan Acting President Rodelos announced that under the recently signed agreements, the country’s oil industry is expected to receive nearly $7.6 billion in investment over the next five years. She revealed that the bilateral arrangements with the United States cover 17 oil fields, and plans include the deployment of 250 drilling rigs. To date, 61 agreements have been signed between the relevant parties.
