Trump Orders Blockade of ‘Sanctioned Oil Tankers’ Into Venezuela, Ramping Up Pressure on Maduro

Maracaibo, Venezuela. 12-04-2025. An oil tanker is seen anchored in Lake Maracaibo after loading crude oil at the Bajo Grande Refinery port. The Trump administration seized the oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. The vessel, which was on the Treasury Department’s sanctions list and was sailing under the Guyanese flag, was on the US Treasury Department’s sanctions list. The US president threatened to confiscate all hydrocarbon-laden vessels in the Venezuelan oil-producing nation. (Photo by: Jose Bula Urrutia/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader NicolౠMaduro. The moves comes after U.S. forces last week seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, an unusual move that followed a buildup of military forces in the region. In a post on social media Tuesday night announcing the blockade, Trump alleged Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes. The buildup has been accompanied by a series of military strikes on boats in international waters in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.