Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned oil tankers’ into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on Maduro

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s leader Nicolás Maduro.

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, Mr. Trump alleged Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes.

“Today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Mr. Trump also said the large U.S. naval armada amassed in the Caribbean “will only get bigger” until Venezuela returns “to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”