Donald Trump has said the US will keep or sell the crude oil contained on tankers it has seized off the coast of Venezuela, as well as the vessels themselves.
The US president’s comments came as Washington continues to pressure the South American country’s leader Nicolás Maduro to stand down.
Speaking to reporters in Florida on Monday, Trump said of the oil “we’re going to keep it”, adding: “Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it. Maybe we’ll use it in the Strategic Reserves. We’re keeping the ships also.”
The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using oil revenues to fund drug-related crime, while Caracas has condemned the seizures as “piracy”.
The US military has seized two oil tankers this month, including one on Saturday.
Trump issued his latest warning as the US Coast Guard continued to pursue a third oil tanker, which authorities described as part of a Venezuelan “dark fleet” used to evade US sanctions.
“It’s moving along, and we’ll end up getting it,” Trump said.
Separately on Monday, the US military said it carried out a strike on what it said was a suspected trafficking vessel in international waters in the eastern Pacific. US Southern Command said one person was killed.
When asked whether the goal of the seizures was to force Maduro from power, Trump responded: “Well, I think it probably would… That’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it’d be smart for him to do that. But again, we’re gonna find out.”
The US has been building up its military presence in the Pacific and Caribbean Seas and has carried out deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats, killing around 100 people.
It has provided no public evidence that these vessels were carrying drugs and the military has come under increasing scrutiny from Congress over the strikes.
Speaking on Monday, Trump repeated that the US intends to strike targets on land too.
He said: “We’ll be starting the same programme on land. If they want to come by land, they’re going to end up having a big problem. They’re going to get blown to pieces, because we don’t want our people poisoned.”
Speaking on state television, Maduro responded to Trump by saying: “He would be better off in his own country dealing with economic and social issues and the world would be better off if he focused on his own country’s affairs.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture, accusing him of being “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world”.
The Trump administration has designated Maduro’s government as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO), and last week ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.
As the Venezuelan government relies heavily on oil exports to finance public spending, the latest measures have sparked outrage among officials in Caracas.
At Venezuela’s request, the UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss what the government has described as “ongoing US aggression”.
