Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned oil tankers’ entering and leaving South American country

President Donald Trump stepped up pressure on Venezuela on Tuesday by announcing he was ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” entering and leaving the South American country.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It will only get worse, and the shock they will experience will be like nothing they have ever seen before – until the moment they return to the United States of America all the oil, land and other assets they stole from us before.”

He then added that he was “ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL entering and leaving Venezuela”, arguing that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro uses oil revenues to finance illicit operations, including “drug terrorism”.

The United States has sanctioned three of Maduro’s nephews and repeatedly carried out military strikes against boats from the Caribbean that it says were carrying drugs.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview for part of a two-part profile published Tuesday by Vanity Fair that Trump “wants to keep blowing up boats until Maduro cries uncle.”

Tensions further escalated last week when US forces seized an oil tanker in waters near Venezuela.

Trump’s announcement of a blockade could be the prelude to the seizure of new ships. The Skipper, the large oil tanker that the U.S. military seized Wednesday, was a sanctioned vessel that the administration said was used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.