Trump: U.S. Has Seized a Venezuela Oil Tanker for Undisclosed Reason

President Donald Trump said that the United States has seized the oil tanker Skipper off the coast of Venezuela as he escalates pressure on the government of President Nicolás Maduro, Aamer Madhani, Konstantin Toropin, Joshua Goodman, and Regina García Cano reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The seizure was led by the Coast Guard with Navy support and was carried out under purported US law enforcement authority. (Photo: Pam Bondi X)

Using US forces to take control of a merchant vessel is a rare and extraordinary move, marking Trump’s latest attempt to pressure Maduro and divert attention from domestic issues weighing on his presidency.

The US has amassed its largest military presence in the region in decades and launched lethal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific.

The campaign is under intensifying scrutiny in Congress.

Venezuela condemned the seizure as “a blatant theft and an act of international piracy,” saying it exposes the true objectives of the US campaign: “It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy — resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.”

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that it was taken “for a very good reason,” though he refused to disclose what that reason was.

Asked about the oil aboard the vessel, he responded, “Well, we keep it, I guess.”

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the seizure was led by the Coast Guard with Navy support and was carried out under purported US law enforcement authority.