U.S. Seizes Second Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Venezuela As Part of Trump’s ‘COMPLETE BLOCKADE’

The U.S. Coast Guard seized a second oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Saturday in the latest escalation of President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on the country and his push to remove its leader Nicolás Maduro. 

CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak shared details on the operation on Saturday evening. He said the seizure took place in international waters off of Venezuela’s coast earlier in the morning; the operation was led by the Coast Guard and assisted by the U.S Navy.

The tanker was carrying Venezuelan oil to Asia under the flag of Panama. He noted China is Venezuela’s top oil customer.

“This particular tanker was not covered by U.S. sanctions, and I think that underscores the attempts and objective of the U.S. to really try and cut off Maduro’s economic lifeline,” Liptak reported. “Oil is the way he has maintained a grip on power inside that country. And what officials have made clear is the goal of this overall initiative is to try and oust Maduro from power.”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem shared footage of the tanker being seized on X, with the clip showing a military helicopter landing on the ship.

The operation comes a few days after Trump authorized a “COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.”

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump posted on Tuesday. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

Saturday’s seizure comes 10 days after the U.S. grabbed another tanker off the country’s coast. The seizures have come as Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have conducted more than 20 military strikes against suspected drug boats, which they said are full of “narco-terrorists” running narcotics into the U.S.

More than 100 people have been killed in those strikes.

Watch CNN’s report above.

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