USA – Donald Trump on Wednesday confirmed that the US had seized an oil tanker off Venezuelan coast, escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas.

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela; large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually. And other things are happening,” Trump told reporters at the White House, alleging that it was taken “for a very good reason.”

The president was reticent to provide additional details on the matter, saying that officials would brief reporters later Wednesday with further information on what transpired.

Asked what would happen to the oil tanker’s cargo, Trump said: “We keep it, I guess.”

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement that his country “strongly condemns what constitutes a blatant act of theft and international piracy, publicly announced by the president of the United States.”

He said it was not the first such incident and accused the Trump administration of pursuing a deliberate plan to seize Venezuela’s energy resources, noting that Trump “openly stated during his 2024 campaign that his goal had always been to take Venezuela’s oil without paying anything in return.”

The move is all but certain to further ratchet up tensions with Caracas as Trump continues to demand Maduro step down from power, maintaining that all options, including military force, remain on the table amid a massive force buildup in the region.

The US has already carried out 22 known strikes on alleged “narco-terrorist” seaborne vessels, killing 87 people since the attacks began in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean in early September.

Trump has said that he is now seeking to expand the campaign to include land strikes on alleged drug traffickers in Venezuela and beyond.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agency and the US Coast Guard, with support from the Defense Department on Wednesday executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” Bondi said on the US social media company X’s platform.

The seizure took place off the coast of Venezuela and was carried out “safely and securely,” Bondi said.