The U.S. military seized an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude in the Caribbean Wednesday, marking a new step in the Trump administration’s efforts to pressure the South American country’s government.
The ship, which U.S. officials said is named Skipper, has previously been sanctioned, and a federal judge issued a warrant two weeks ago for its seizure due to its activities carrying Iranian oil.
Footage released by Attorney General Pam Bondi showed American troops jumping out of helicopters to take control of the ship. “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 wrote in a post on X.
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President Donald Trump, speaking at a business round table at the White House, appeared pleased with the operation. The president described the tanker as “the largest one ever seized, actually.”
Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yvan Gil, denounced the seizure in a post on Instagram. The Venezuelan government “strongly denounces and rejects what constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy,” Gil wrote. Oil exports are the Venezuelan government’s main source of income.
The seizure is a notable escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign against the Maduro regime. The U.S. has deployed sizable naval forces around the country in a bid to push the strongman president to resign. Previously, the forces were only being used in counternarcotics operations, including airstrikes of small drug-smuggling craft.
