U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela — a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually,” Trump said during a meeting at the White House. He declined to provide details on the owner or destination of the tanker but said it was “seized for a very good reason.”
When asked what would happen with the oil from the seized tanker, Trump replied, “We keep it, I guess.”
The tanker, identified as Skipper, a Guyana-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier sanctioned for involvement in Iranian oil trading, departed Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose earlier this month carrying 1.1 million barrels of the country’s Merey heavy crude, according to energy consulting firm Kpler.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the FBI, Homeland Security, Coast Guard, and U.S. military carried out the joint operation. She shared drone footage on X showing troops boarding the vessel from a helicopter.
Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025
“This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely—and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues,” Bondi said.
In response, the Venezuelan government accused the U.S. of “blatant theft” and described the seizure as “an act of international piracy.” It added that it would “defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity with absolute determination.”
Since September, Trump has launched controversial strikes against Venezuela-originating vessels he says were trafficking drugs to the U.S. He has also increased pressure on Venezuela in recent weeks, warning of potential land operations to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers.
Speaking to Politico in an interview released Tuesday, Trump warned that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s days are numbered. He said Maduro could not be allowed to remain in power but he declined to specify how far the US might go to remove the authoritarian leader.
