President Donald Trump confirmed the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in a major escalation in the tension between the two countries.
“We just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. A large tanker, very large. Largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump said.
He commented on the top of a roundtable he was hosting at the White House on Wednesday.
The president, 79, did not give any details on what led to the tanker being seized but said there would be talk of that “later.”
Asked about it by a reporter moments later, he said it was seized for “very good reason” and suggested that pictures would be released.
His remarks came after Bloomberg reported the U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast.
Trump suggested on Wednesday that the U.S. would keep the oil. He would not say who the owner of the tanker is, and it is not clear where the tanker was headed.
China is the main buyer of Venezuelan oil, largely indirectly to avoid sanctions.
The U.S. has been ramping up its military presence in the Caribbean as it puts more pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Pentagon has carried out a series of strikes on alleged drug boats in the region, killing more than 80 suspects. It claims the alleged traffickers are flooding the U.S. with drugs, but has failed to provide evidence in many cases that the boats were carrying drugs or headed toward the U.S.
Trump has suggested that land strikes would be next and has claimed that Maduro’s days “are numbered.”
In another escalation last month, the president also told airlines that Venezuela’s airspace should be closed.
“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department for more information.
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