December 23, 2025 | 07:00 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - United States President Donald Trump has asserted that the U.S. will maintain oil commodities and seize ships off the coast of Venezuela.
"We're going to keep it...Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it. Maybe we'll use it in the Strategic Reserves. We're keeping the ships also," he told reporters in the state of Florida on Monday, as reported by Anadolu.
Last Tuesday, Trump declared a "total and complete blockade" on sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.
The U.S. seized a large oil tanker on December 10 carrying over 1 million barrels of oil, according to energy consultancy firm Kpler. They intercepted a second vessel over the weekend. Trump confirmed on Monday that the U.S. is pursuing a third oil tanker.
"It’s moving along. We’ll end up getting it," Trump said about the oil tanker, as reported by CNBC. "It came from the wrong location. It came out of Venezuela, and it was sanctioned."
Venezuela is a founding member of OPEC and holds the world's largest proven oil reserves. According to data from Kpler, the country is projected to export around 749,000 barrels per day this year, with over half of that going to China.
Narcotics Operation Claims
The U.S. has conducted a major military buildup in the Caribbean. The Trump administration has launched deadly attacks on ships it claims are smuggling narcotics to the U.S.
The legality of these attacks has been questioned and is under congressional scrutiny in the U.S.
Trump claimed that U.S. military operations near Venezuelan waters have reduced the amount of narcotics entering the U.S. by sea by 96.2 percent.
"And soon, we'll be starting the same program on land. The land is much easier...We save 25,000 lives every single time we knock out a boat. And it's over 96 percent stopped by sea," Trump said.
"We're trying to figure out who the other 4 percent are, frankly, and we're going to have the same success, but even quicker, because it's much easier on land," he added.
"If they want to come by land, they're going to end up having a big problem. They're going to get blown to pieces, because we don't want our people poisoned," he said.
The U.S. President claimed that Venezuela has been doing "horrific things" to the U.S.
"They sent their criminals, they sent their prisoners, they sent their drug dealers," he said.
Trump reiterated that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro should take his threats seriously, as the U.S. has formed the largest fleet ever assembled.
The U.S. leader stated that Maduro is free to act. But if he acts tough, it will be the last time the Venezuelan leader does so.
Trump said, "It would be wise" for Maduro to step down when asked if his main goal is to overthrow the Venezuelan president.
Threat to Colombia
Trump then threatened Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
"He has to watch because he's got drug factories," Trump claimed. "He's no friend to the United States...and he's gotta watch his a** because he makes cocaine, and they send it into the United States of America from Colombia."
The U.S. Department of the Treasury added a drug cartel known as the Clan del Golfo or Gulf Clan to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) last Tuesday.
This designation came just hours after Trump signed an executive order classifying fentanyl as a "mass destruction weapon".
These two steps are seen as further escalation in the war on drugs launched by the Trump administration, which has also carried out more than 20 deadly attacks on ships suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Read: US Seizes Another Oil Tanker Off Venezuela
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