President Donald Trump speaks on the red carpet before the 48th Kennedy Center Honors, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The U.S. military seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, reported Bloomberg News on Wednesday. The report called the move “a serious escalation” amid President Donald Trump’s saber-rattling to remove Nicolas Maduro from power.
Bloomberg added that “seizure may make it much harder for Venezuela to export its oil, as other shippers are now likely to be more reluctant to load its cargoes. Most Venezuelan oil goes to China, usually through intermediaries, at steep discounts owing to sanctions risk.”
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The move comes as Trump and his administration continue to bomb alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea, which have so far killed over 80 people and created a growing scandal around the killing of survivors, which critics denounce as a war crime. In recent days, Trump has raised the prospect of land strikes and even troops on the ground as part of his campaign to end “narco terrorism” in the region.
Trump has also been in negotiations with the Maduro regime to remove him from power. Trump and Maduro reportedly spoke on the phone, but negotiations broke down when Maduro asked for blanket amnesty in a friendly country for himself and some 100 of his top officials. Maduro also reportedly wanted to keep $200 million of his personal wealth.
Maduro has claimed publicly that Trump is trying to remove him from power to steal his country’s vast oil reserves. Bloomberg noted that U.S. oil companies are already operating inside the country, despite sanctions. “PDVSA, the state oil company, controls the petroleum industry in the country, it works with international partners including Houston-based Chevron Corp. to drill in many parts of Venezuela. Under the current arrangement, Chevron pays the government with a percentage of the oil it produces alongside PDVSA via the companies’ joint ventures. A license issued by the US Treasury exempts the US company from sanctions,” added Bloomberg of the complicated relationship.
This is a developing story and has been updated.
The post JUST IN: U.S. Seizes Oil Tanker Off Venezuela in ‘Serious Escalation’ first appeared on Mediaite.
