President Donald Trump has ordered a sweeping maritime blockade targeting Venezuela’s oil trade, formally designating the government of Nicolás Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization and accusing it of using misappropriated U.S. assets to fund criminal activity.
According to Fox News, the directive, announced Tuesday, authorizes the interception of oil tankers entering or departing Venezuelan waters.
Trump said the measure was intended to halt what he described as the exploitation of stolen American oil fields and other assets to finance terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking and violent crime.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump said on Truth Social. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before – 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.”
President Donald Trump has ordered a sweeping maritime blockade targeting Venezuela’s oil trade, formally designating the government of Nicolás Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization and accusing it of using misappropriated U.S. assets to fund criminal activity.
According to Fox News, the directive, announced Tuesday, authorizes the interception of oil tankers entering or departing Venezuelan waters.
Trump said the measure was intended to halt what he described as the exploitation of stolen American oil fields and other assets to finance terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking and violent crime.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump said on Truth Social. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before – 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.”
In the same statement, Trump accused the Maduro government of sustaining itself through illicit oil revenues.
“The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping,” he wrote. “For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.”
He then outlined the scope of the action.
“Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” Trump said.
“The Illegal Aliens and Criminals that the Maduro Regime has sent into the United States during the weak and inept Biden Administration, are being returned to Venezuela at a rapid pace. America will not allow Criminals, Terrorists, or other Countries, to rob, threaten, or harm our Nation and, likewise, will not allow a Hostile Regime to take our Oil, Land, or any other Assets, all of which must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY.”
The following day, Trump announced that U.S. authorities had seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, marking a significant escalation in enforcement.
The vessel, identified as the Skipper, was taken into custody on allegations that it was transporting oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the tanker had been used to move sanctioned oil originating from Venezuela and Iran.
Administration officials described the Skipper as part of a larger, clandestine network of vessels used to evade international sanctions.
According to the administration, the ship belongs to an informal fleet of roughly 1,000 tankers that transport oil from sanctioned countries including Venezuela, Iran and Russia.
These vessels, often referred to as “ghost ships,” operate under foreign flags, repeatedly change names, shift ownership through shell companies, disable tracking transponders and conduct ship-to-ship transfers at sea to conceal the origin of their cargo.
Reuters reported that the Skipper was loaded with approximately 1.8 million barrels of oil earlier this month and transferred about 200,000 barrels shortly before being seized.
Based on current oil prices, the cargo could be valued between $60 million and more than $100 million. Fox News Digital contacted the White House for confirmation of the estimate but did not receive an immediate response.
The blockade and tanker seizure come amid a broader U.S. military campaign near Venezuelan waters. Since September, U.S. forces have conducted repeated strikes against boats suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking.
According to U.S. officials, at least 22 such strikes have been carried out since September, resulting in 87 deaths. The operations are described as part of a sustained pressure effort aimed at disrupting drug smuggling routes and increasing pressure on the Maduro government.
Officials say the campaign reflects a dual objective: curbing the flow of illicit drugs into the United States while intensifying economic and military pressure on Venezuela’s leadership.
THE THIRD FORCE
