Trump 'seriously considering' turning another country into 51st US state

Donald Trump has never been shy about his imperial ambitions.

He's threatened to annex Canada, take back the Panama Canal, and repeatedly floated military options for seizing Greenland.

But his latest idea makes all of that look relatively restrained.

Back in January, US forces captured Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cillia Flores in a laserpoint military operation. Trump subsequently announced that an interim group led by top administration officials would run the country for a period of time while the US figures out when a peaceful and just transition can take place.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after landing in Manhattan earlier this year (Photo by XNY/Star Max/GC Images)

Since then, White House officials have shuttled back and forth to Caracas brokering deals with US energy and mining companies, the US Embassy reopened in March, and direct flights from the US resumed last month.

Trump has said US oil companies plan to invest $100 billion into rebuilding the country's oil infrastructure, Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserved in the world.

Could Venezuela become the 51st state?

Today Fox News co-anchor John Roberts, who spoke to the president on Monday, revealed that Trump is now "seriously considering a move to make Venezuela the 51st state of the United States."

The signs have always been there.

Back in March, after Venezuela best Italy at the World Baseball Classic, Trump posted on truth Social: "STATEHOOD, #51, Anyone?"

You can never be quite sure if Trump is being serious, but now it looks like maybe he was.

U.S. President Donald Trump, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio watch military operations in Venezuela (Molly Riley/The White House via Getty Images)

Trump told reporters at the White House today that US Operations in Venezuela amounted to 'military genius', and in an interview with Full Measure's Sharyl Attkisson that aired 10 May, painted a strikingly upbeat picture of life under American control.

"Venezuela is a very happy country right now," he said. "They were miserable. Now they're happy. It's being well fun. The oil that's coming out is enormous, the biggest in many years. And the big oil companies are going in with the biggest, most beautiful rigs you've ever seen."

Does the Venezuela takeover need congressional approval?

So can he legally do it? Not without congressional approval, and Venezuela's own consent.

But that hasn't stopped him suggesting he intends to take the country anyway. The US has already built up one of the largest naval fleets in the Caribbean in decades and Trump has not ruled out American boots on the ground to protect Venezuelas vast oil infrastructure.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress in January that the US is not militarily "postured" for action in Venezuela. "The only military presence you will see in Venezuela is our Marine guards at an embassy," he said. Trump has since repeatedly suggested otherwise.

Interim Venezuelan president Delcy Rodriguez (Photo by Javier Campos/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has given no timeline for democratic elections, saying only they will happen "some time" - drawing fears the White House has abandoned its goal of pushing the country toward democracy.

A coalition of more than 40 human rights groups working in Latin America warned that while Venezuela deserves a democratic transition, it "cannot justify the breakdown of international order or legitimize violent and unilateral means that impose the logic of the strongest."