President Donald Trump has ordered a blockade of Venezuela, targeting sanctioned oil tankers in an escalation of his administration’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump, who accused Venezuela of stealing from the United States in a social media post Tuesday, also said he would classify the Maduro government as a foreign terrorist organization.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
The move against Venezuela, which has one of the world’s largest oil reserves, sent crude prices up about one percent to $56 a barrel after Trump’s announcement — still low compared to a year ago.
