Venezuela’s Acting President Responds to President Trump’s Hopes to Make the Country America’s 51st State

President Donald Trump is reportedly considering making Venezuela the 51st state in the United States of America, but the South American country has their own thoughts on the matter.

After it was reported that the 79-year-old president told Fox News on Monday, May 11, that he was “seriously considering a move to make Venezuela the 51st state,” per correspondent John Roberts, Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez responded.

Rodríguez, 56 — who took over as acting president following the capture of Nicolás Maduro — told journalists on Monday that Venezuela has no plans to join the U.S., according to the Associated Press.

“We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history,” Rodríguez said at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, adding that Venezuela is “not a colony, but a free country.”

Fox News previously reported that the Apprentice alum said he is motivated by the approximate $40 trillion value of oil in Venezuela, adding: “Venezuela loves Trump.”

The White House has not made an official statement on Trump’s alleged comments to Fox.

In a statement to USA Today, White House assistant press secretary Olivia Whales said, “As the President has said, relations between Venezuela and the United States have been extraordinary.”

“Oil is starting to flow and large amounts of money, unseen for many years, will soon be helping the great people of Venezuela,” Whales added.

According to the Constitution, Trump cannot legally declare Venezuela the 51st state without congressional approval or the country’s consent.

“New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress,” Article IV reads.

After U.S. military officials captured Maduro, 63, in January, Trump said the United States would “run” the country, according to Fox.

“We’re going to run everything,” Trump said. “We’re going to run it, fix it. We’ll have elections at the right time.”