dec 10, 2025 - United States seizure of the oil tanker Skipper

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On 1December 10th, 2025, the United States seized the oil tanker Skipper in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela. Skipper had been sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury in 2022 for alleged involvement in an oil trafficking shadow fleet of vessels involving the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. The seizure involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard. Skipper's crew did not resist the seizure and there were no casualties.

When Trump confirmed the seizure of Skipper, he stated that "we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela—a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually" and that it was "seized for a very good reason". When Trump was asked what the United States would do with Skipper, he responded "we keep it, I guess". Trump administration officials like Kristi Noem and Karoline Leavitt connected the oil tanker's seizure to the administration's war on drugs in Latin America.

From the Republican Party, Senator Roger Marshall told reporters that the United States "should be pushing back on Venezuela", adding that he was "concerned about the drug cartel that is running" Venezuela, referring to Cartel of the Suns. Senator Rand Paul told NewsNation reporter Hannah Brandt that the seizure "sounds a lot like the beginning of a war". Representative Rick Crawford told NewsNation's Elizabeth Vargas that the seizure was part of a "ongoing action" against Maduro's government, adding that it was "a pretty strong signal to Maduro".

From the Democratic Party, Senator Chris Coons also told NewsNation that he was "gravely concerned that [Trump] is sleepwalking [the United States] into a war with Venezuela". Senator Chris Van Hollen stated that seizure of Skipper demonstrated that the Trump administration wanted "regime change [in Venezuela]—by force".

The Venezuelan government "strongly denounced and repudiated" what it considered to be "a shameless robbery and an act of international piracy"; according to Reuters, "legal specialists said it did not fall under such a definition under international law". Maduro's government stated that it would "defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity with absolute determination". It accused Trinidad and Tobago of participating in the ship's seizure, without saying how they had participated, and canceled all natural gas agreements between the two countries.

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