Live Updates > Live Update Details
2025-12-17 08:09:55
The Trump administration escalates pressure on the Maduro government, ordering a "complete and total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela." 1. Trump stated in a social media post that he has ordered a "complete and total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela," adding that the fleet surrounding Venezuela will only grow larger, and the impact on them will be unprecedented—until they return all the oil, land, and other assets they have previously stolen from us to the United States. 2. Trump also designated Venezuelan President Maduro's regime as a "foreign terrorist organization." He accused the "illegitimate" regime of using oil obtained from these stolen oil fields to fund itself, drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping. This move marks an escalation of pressure from the Trump administration on Maduro. Last week, the United States seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
