The official added that US Coast Guard members were taken to the ship via helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. (Photo: X/ @AGPamBondi) US President Donald Trump has said that American forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government being run by President Nicolas Maduro and the administration also released a clip on social media which appears to show US troops boarding the vessel via helicopter, AP reported.
During a White House event on Wednesday, Trump told reporters, “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large one… the largest one ever seized actually,” and later added that “it was seized for a very good reason.” The US president didn’t offer much details, however, when asked what would happen to the oil aboard the tanker, Trump said, “Well, we keep it, I guess.”
In an unusual display of force where US forces were used to seize an oil tanker, the Trump administration is ratcheting up pressure on Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States. America has built up the largest military presence in the region in decades and launched deadly strikes on boats allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025
The oil tanker seizure was conducted under US law enforcement authority and the operation was led by US Coast Guard and supported by the Navy, a US official told AP. The official added that US Coast Guard members were taken to the ship via helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi, while posting the video on social media, said that the tanker has been sanctioned for many years due to its “involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations”.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government has said it believes the United States is trying to depose its President Nicolas Maduro, who addressed the tension between the two countries earlier in the day, BBC reported.
(with inputs from AP)
