High Seas Piracy: After Blowing Up Boats In Caribbean, Trump Seizes an Oil Tanker

Dec 12, 2025 08:09 AM EST, Fri

U.S. military seizes oil tanker off Venezuelan coast, Trump says

The move ratchets up tensions with the Latin American country in an area where the U.S. has been striking small boats it accuses of trafficking drugs. It’s unclear who owns the tanker.

Dec. 10, 2025, 4:19 PM EST By Erum Salam

The United States on Wednesday seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said, sharply escalating tensions with his counterpart, [Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump did not immediately offer further details surrounding the ship, including its owner or the nation where it is flagged.

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. Large tanker, very large,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that “other things are happening. So you’ll be seeing that later.”

The American military has been destroying small boats the U.S. claims are running drugs off the Latin American country’s coast, though it has offered little evidence to support those allegations. Trump said Saturday that he intends to expand the military campaign against alleged drug traffickers from sea to land soon.

Lawmakers, legal scholars and former U.S. military leaders have said the strikes amount to extrajudicial killings, violating both American and international law. Maduro, whom the Trump administration has designated as the head of a foreign terrorist organization, has alleged that the U.S. is “fabricating” a war. He called the American military presence in the Caribbean “the greatest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years.”

Venezuela is a founding member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and sits on the largest oil reserves in the world. Its fragile economy depends disproportionately on oil exports, meaning Wednesday’s seizure hits squarely on a strategic vulnerability.

Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW - Breaking News and News Today / Latest News. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.

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