President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is ordering a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, escalating efforts to pressure the government of President Nicolás Maduro. (Confirmed)
The announcement came days after U.S. forces seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, following a buildup of military forces in the region. In a post on his social media platform, Trump alleged Venezuela’s oil exports were supporting drug trafficking and other criminal activities. He said the military presence would grow until Venezuela returned what he described as stolen “oil, land, and other assets.” (Confirmed)
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump wrote. “It will only get bigger … Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
The Pentagon referred all questions about the post to the White House. Venezuela’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Corroborated)
Before Trump’s statement, Maduro said Venezuela had shown resilience in the face of foreign pressure. “Venezuela has 25 weeks denouncing, confronting and defeating a campaign of multidimensional aggression,” he said on state television Tuesday. (Confirmed)
The U.S. military presence in the region includes 11 naval vessels—such as an aircraft carrier and several amphibious ships—along with maritime patrol aircraft. Officials say the deployments provide surveillance of ships heading into or out of Venezuela. (Corroborated)
The campaign has included at least 25 strikes on vessels in international waters in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in approximately 95 deaths. According to the Trump administration, the operation seeks to curb drug trafficking to the U.S. Trump has said it may expand to strikes on land.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves and produces roughly 1 million barrels of oil per day. Since U.S. sanctions began in 2017, the Maduro government has used unflagged tankers to continue exporting oil to global markets, primarily China.
On social media Tuesday night, Trump also said that the “Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” though it was unclear what designation he meant. Venezuela is not listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The designation is typically applied to non-state actors, though the U.S. in 2019 also applied it to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
