Donald Trump has said the United States plans to keep or potentially sell both the crude oil and the tankers it has seized off the coast of Venezuela, suggesting the oil could even be added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
His remarks come as Washington intensifies pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down, accusing his government of using oil revenues to fund drug trafficking, a claim Caracas rejects as baseless and calls the seizures piracy. The US military has already seized two tankers this month and is pursuing a third vessel described as part of a Venezuelan “dark fleet” used to evade sanctions.
Trump indicated the seizures could contribute to weakening Maduro’s grip on power, while also confirming continued military action against suspected trafficking vessels at sea. Separately, the US said it carried out a lethal strike on a suspected smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, amid growing scrutiny from Congress over the lack of public evidence supporting such operations.
Trump also warned that similar military action could soon extend to land-based targets, using harsh language to justify the strategy as protecting Americans from drugs. Maduro responded by urging Trump to focus on domestic US problems rather than intervening in Venezuela’s affairs.
Since returning to office, Trump has escalated measures against Caracas by increasing rewards for Maduro’s capture, designating his government as a foreign terrorist organisation, ordering a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers, and prompting Venezuela to request an emergency UN Security Council meeting over what it calls US aggression.
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