The U.S. military has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, according to President Donald Trump.
It follows multiple U.S. strikes on vessels in waters near Venezuela, killing at least 80 people.
Trump said the tanker was “largest one ever seized”.
The Venezuelan Government called the actions an “assault”and a “shameless robbery”.
Background
The U.S. military has conducted multiple strikes on Venezuelan vessels since Trump’s second term began, which it says are part of efforts to stop alleged drug trafficking.
In November, The Washington Post reported details from a 2 September attack in waters near Trinidad and Tobago, which is close to Venezuela.
Sources told The Washington Post that after troops formed the view that a boat was carrying drugs, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered a strike by saying: “Kill them all”.
After two survivors of the first strike were spotted clinging to driftwood in the open sea, a senior commander ordered a second strike to kill the two survivors in line with Hegseth’s order.
The report sparked debate over whether this second strike was lawful.
Hegseth and other militarycommanders denied issuing such anorder, insisting the strikes were legal.
This week, U.S. Congress voted to withhold a quarter of Hegseth’s travel budget unless he releases video footage of the 2 September strikes.
Oil tankers
At a press conference on Wednesday (local time), Trump said: “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large — the largest one ever seized actually.”
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He added that “it was seized for very good reason.”
When asked about the fate of the oil carried by the tanker, Trump said: “Well, we keep it, I guess.”
Homeland Secretary Pam Bondi shared footage of the seizure on X, saying it was “conducted safely and securely”.
Bondi alleged the tanker was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”.
She said the U.S. had sanctioned the tanker “due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations.”
Venezuela response
The Venezuelan Government said the U.S. seized the tanker as “part of a deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources.”
It said “the reasons for the prolonged aggression... was always about our natural wealth” rather than “migration” or “drug trafficking”.
“Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to try to take away from the Venezuelan people what belongs to them,” it added.
Democrat response
Democratic Representative Adam Smith told CNN “threatening war against Venezuela... is a major mistake” and that the seizure is “contrary to the [U.S.] Constitution”.
Under the U.S. Constitution, only the Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) can authorise a war.
However, the President is also the Commander in Chief of the U.S. armed forces. In this capacity, he can authorise the use of military force against another country without Congressional approval under certain circumstances.
