US seizes Venezuelan oil tanker, White House confirms oil seizure plans

White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated the US plans to take management of the oil presently on a tanker off the coast of Venezuela that was seized by US forces on Wednesday.

Trump “talks loads about how he thinks the best way to carry down costs for the whole lot can be to carry down power prices,” Fox Information senior White Home correspondent Peter Doocy stated Thursday. “Would he use this seized Venezuelan oil to make it inexpensive for Individuals right here in the USA?”

Leavitt responded, “The ship will go to a U.S. port, and the USA intends to grab the oil. Nonetheless, there’s a authorized course of for the seizure of that oil, and that authorized course of might be adopted.”

President Donald Trump introduced on Wednesday that the US had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, sharply escalating tensions between the US and the nation. Based on Legal professional Common Pam Bondi, the tanker was seized as a result of it was allegedly used to move sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

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The US has seized ‘The Skipper’, a Venezuelan oil tanker. (Planet Labs PBC/Reuters)

“The ship is presently present process a forfeiture course of. Right now, the USA presently has a full investigative staff on website, on the ship, and people on board the ship are being interviewed and all related proof is being seized,” Leavitt continued, including that the oil on the tanker will undergo a authorized course of earlier than the US claims the power supply.

The tanker, referred to as the Skipper, loaded an estimated 1.8 million barrels of oil earlier in December earlier than transferring an estimated 200,000 barrels simply earlier than the seizure. Reuters reported this.

The oil on the tanker is probably going price between $60 and over $100 million, primarily based on present common oil costs. Fox Information Digital reached out to the White Home for added touch upon the oil’s estimated price ticket however didn’t instantly obtain a response.

The US navy has carried out assaults on suspected drug smuggling boats close to Venezuela since September as a part of Trump’s mission to finish the circulate of medicine into the nation. Since September, there have been at the very least 22 assaults on suspected drug traffickers close to Venezuela, killing 87 individuals.

Doocy requested Leavitt in the course of the press convention whether or not the U.S. strikes and elevated tensions with Venezuela, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, are “about medication or about oil?”

Newly launched footage exhibits US forces securing a Venezuelan oil tanker. (@AGPamBondi by way of X)

“The Trump administration is targeted on doing a whole lot of issues within the Western Hemisphere,” Leavitt responded. “The president has taken a brand new method that no administration has taken in fairly a while, to truly give attention to what’s occurring in our personal yard. And there are two issues which might be essential to this administration.”

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The boat assaults are seen as a part of a US stress marketing campaign on Venezuela that’s seemingly aimed not solely at curbing the circulate of medicine but additionally at eradicating dictatorial President Nicolás Maduro as chief of the oil-rich nation.

White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to questions concerning the seized oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on December 11, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Pictures)

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“Primary: stopping the circulate of unlawful medication into the USA of America, which we all know has killed lots of of 1000’s of Individuals,” she continued, earlier than including that Trump is “absolutely dedicated to finishing up this administration’s sanctions coverage.” And that is what you noticed, and the world noticed, occur yesterday.”

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“Concerning the oil and what occurred yesterday, the Division of Justice requested and authorised a warrant to grab a ship as a result of it’s a sanctioned shadow ship recognized for transporting black market sanctioned oil to the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guards), which is, you realize, a sanctioned entity,” she continued. Venezuela is already topic to intensive US sanctions, however has traditionally been a significant provider of crude oil to the US

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a ceremonial sword reportedly belonging to independence hero Simon Bolivar throughout a government-organized civil-military march in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, November 25, 2025. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Picture)

Leavitt added that the administration will stay dedicated to the “president’s sanctions coverage and the sanctions coverage of the USA.”

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“We won’t stand by and watch as sanctioned ships ply the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which can gas the narco-terrorism of rogue states and illegitimate regimes world wide,” she stated.

Fox Information Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.