U.S. forces have seized a large oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday, escalating an already volatile standoff with Nicolás Maduro’s government and its Cuban allies.
Trump Boasts Of Record-Breaking Tanker Seizure
“As you probably know we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela,” Trump told reporters, according to a report by the Associated Press. “Large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually.” Asked what would happen to the crude on board, he replied, “We keep it, I guess.”
U.S. officials say Coast Guard personnel, backed by the Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford, boarded the Panama-flagged Skipper in international waters without casualties, acting on a federal seizure warrant tied to long-running sanctions on an illicit Iran-Venezuela oil network.
AP reported the tanker, previously known as the M/T Adisa, carried about 2 million barrels of heavy crude, roughly half bound for a Cuban importer and has been linked to schemes benefiting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted a video on X showing FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and Coast Guard teams fast-roping from helicopters and sweeping the deck with guns drawn.
Venezuela Condemns Move As Oil Piracy Act
Venezuela’s government blasted the move as “blatant theft” and “international piracy,” accusing Washington of targeting “our natural wealth, our oil, our energy” and vowing to challenge the seizure at international bodies, as per Reuters.
Naval Buildup Blurs Counter-Drug And Regime Goals
The operation comes on top of a months-long U.S. campaign of deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats and a massive naval buildup in the Caribbean under Operation Southern Spear, which has deployed the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group and other warships and left dozens dead at sea.
Former national security adviser John Bolton recently said in an interview that Trump has “put the gun on the table” in dealings with Maduro, pointing to the carrier deployment and boat strikes as evidence the White House is blurring counter-narcotics and regime-change goals.
Trump offered few specifics on the Skipper case beyond saying the U.S. seized it “for very good reason,” and signaled more actions could follow.
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