Trump continues calls for Venezuela to be 51st state

President Trump renewed calls for Venezuela to be the 51st U.S. state after touting the barrels of oil coming from the South American country.

“It will become a prosperous country, and who knows? Maybe someday soon, it will become a prosperous 51st state,” Trump said of Venezuela. “That’s possible. Let’s make it the 51st state.”

He said that “instead of a president, we’ll have an election for a governor.”

The president called out oil tycoon Harold Hamm in the crowd.

“Now let’s make it, Harold, the 51st state. You like that? I do. I do,” Trump said.

Trump said earlier on Tuesday that Venezuela sent 1 million barrels of oil to the U.S. as a “gift.”

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will oversee the Venezuelan tanker’s arrival on Tuesday, the New York Post reported. The crude oil will be processed in Texas refineries, Trump said.

A State Department official said Rubio is traveling with Trump to Texas in his capacity as national security adviser not as secretary of state.

“He needs time with the President on all kinds of issues. The president will be on the go, so being on the plane with him gives him a chance to talk to him about these items,” the official said.

The president has made comments about Venezuela becoming a state before. Trump said earlier this year that he was “seriously considering” making the country a state and has made similar comments about Canada.

Venezuela ’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez told journalists back in May that Venezuela has no plans of becoming a U.S. state.

“We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history,” she said, according to The Associated Press.

Rodriguez assumed power in January after the U.S. military operation that ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.