Trump says the U.S. has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela : NPR

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions rise with the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The use of US forces to seize control of a merchant ship is incredibly unusual and marks yet another attempt by the Trump administration to increase pressure on Maduro, who is accused in the US of narco-terrorism. The US has built up its largest military presence in the region in decades and carried out a series of deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The campaign faces growing scrutiny from Congress.

“We just seized a tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a big tanker, very big, the biggest ever seized,” Trump told reporters at the White House, later adding that “it was seized for a very good reason.”

Trump did not provide additional details. When asked what would happen to the oil on board the tanker, Trump replied: “Well, I think we'll keep it.”

The seizure was orchestrated by the U.S. Coast Guard and supported by the Navy, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official added that it was carried out under the control of US law enforcement agencies.

Storming an oil tanker

Coast Guard members were flown to the oil tanker by helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the official said. The Ford is in the Caribbean after arriving last month in a major show of force, joining a fleet of other warships.

Video posted on social media by Attorney General Pam Bondi showed people descending from one of the helicopters involved in the operation as it hovered several feet off the deck.

Later in the video, Coast Guard members can be seen moving around the ship's superstructure with weapons drawn.

Bondi wrote that “the oil tanker has been under U.S. sanctions for several years due to its involvement in an illicit oil distribution network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”

The Venezuelan government said in a statement that the seizure “represents a flagrant theft and an act of international piracy.”

“Under these circumstances, the true reasons for the long-term aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed… It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people,” the statement said.

Half of the ship's oil is tied to a Cuban importer

A US official identified the hijacked tanker as Skipper.

The ship left Venezuela around Dec. 2 with about 2 million barrels of heavy oil, about half of which belonged to Cuba's state oil importer, according to documents from state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, commonly known as PDVSA, which were provided on condition of anonymity because the person did not have permission to share them.

Skipper was formerly known as M/T Adisa, according to vessel tracking data. The US sanctioned the Adisa in 2022 over allegations it was part of a complex network of shady tankers that smuggled crude oil on behalf of the Revolutionary Guards and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

The network was reportedly operated by a Swiss-based Ukrainian oil trader, the U.S. Treasury Department said at the time.

A blow to Venezuela's sanctioned oil business

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves and produces about 1 million barrels per day.

PDVSA is the backbone of the country's economy. Its reliance on middlemen increased in 2020 as the first Trump administration expanded its maximum pressure campaign on Venezuela with sanctions that threaten to bar entry into the U.S. economy for any person or company that does business with Maduro's government. Longtime allies Russia and Iran, which were also sanctioned, helped Venezuela circumvent the restrictions.

Transactions typically involve a complex network of shadowy intermediaries. Many are shell companies registered in jurisdictions known for their secrecy. Buyers use so-called ghost tankers, which hide their location and deposit valuable cargo in the middle of the ocean before they reach their final destination.

Maduro did not address the issue of the arrest during a speech before a demonstration organized by the ruling party in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. But he told supporters the country was “ready to break the teeth of the North American Empire if necessary.”

Maduro insists the real goal of US military operations is to force him from office.

Democrat says move is aimed at 'regime change'

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. seizure of the oil tanker calls into question the administration's stated reasons for the military buildup and boat strikes.

“This shows that their whole narrative about drug prohibition is a big lie,” the senator said. “This is just further evidence that this is indeed about regime change—by force.”

Vincent P. O'Hara, a naval historian and author of The Greatest Naval War Ever, called the capture “highly unusual” and “provocative.” Noting that the action would likely discourage other ships from Venezuela's coastline, he said: “If you don't have shipping or access to it, then you don't have an economy.”

The hijacking came a day after the US military flew a pair of fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela, where the warplanes appeared to be closest to the South American country's airspace. Trump said ground attacks would be coming soon, but did not provide further details.

The Trump administration faces growing scrutiny from lawmakers over a campaign of boat strikes that has left at least 87 people dead in 22 known strikes since early September, including a subsequent strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the initial strike.

Some legal experts and Democrats say the actions may have violated laws governing the use of deadly military force.

Lawmakers are demanding unedited video of the strikes, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told congressional leaders at a secret briefing on Tuesday that he is still weighing whether to release it.

The Coast Guard referred a request for comment on the tanker seizure to the White House.