Trump Orders 'Total & Complete Blockade' Of Sanctioned Venezuela Oil Tankers

President Donald Trump announced a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela on Tuesday, via a post on Truth Social, escalating U.S. military pressure on President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

In the Truth Social post, Trump declared, “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” warning it would “only get bigger” and that the “shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before.” He demanded Venezuela return “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us,” and stated he was ordering “A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.” He also designated the Maduro regime a “FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION” due to alleged terrorism, drug smuggling, and human trafficking.

The move, a response to alleged drug trafficking and illicit financing, was accompanied by a significant U.S. military buildup in the region, including hundreds of troops and warships, with Venezuela accusing the U.S. of "international piracy" and "grotesque threats."

In response, Venezuela’s government rejected the blockade as a “grotesque threat” and an “act of war,” accusing the U.S. of seeking to steal its national wealth.

Venezuela deployed its navy to escort oil tankers departing its main port from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, reaffirming its sovereignty and vowing to defend its homeland against what it calls imperial aggression.

President Maduro, speaking before Trump’s post, vowed to defend “every inch” of Venezuela and condemned U.S. actions as colonialist attempts to seize the nation’s oil, gas, and mineral resources.

The blockade follows the U.S. seizure of the oil tanker 'Skipper last week, a sanctioned vessel carrying approximately 1.8 million barrels of oil, which the U.S. claimed was falsely flagged and involved in illicit trade. Since September, the U.S. has conducted over two dozen military strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels near Venezuela, resulting in the deaths of at least 90 people, sparking concerns over extrajudicial killings and war crimes.

The White House has defended the actions as necessary for national security, but critics have labeled the blockade “an act of war” that the U.S. Congress never authorized. The Trump administration has also repositioned a large naval force to the Caribbean, the largest deployment since the Cuban Missile Crisis, and has accused Maduro of leading the “Cartel of the Suns,” a claim the Venezuelan government denies.

The U.S. has also imposed sanctions on Maduro’s relatives and businesses, and reissued a permit for Chevron to operate in Venezuela under strict conditions, though no proceeds can go to the Maduro government.