Move targets oil shipments to and from Venezuela as part of tightened sanctions.
Trump Orders Total Blockade of Sanctioned Venezuelan Oil Tankers
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was ordering a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving from Venezuela, ratcheting up pressure against leader Nicolás Maduro’s regime and suggesting an economic motive to the US’ military campaign in the region.
Punctuating the words “total and complete blockade” in capital letters in a Truth Social post, Trump pointed to the large collection of US military assets in the region, suggested more could be coming and took aim at Maduro’s regime by name. He also suggested Venezuela give up land, oil and assets to the United States, making clear that one aim of his military campaign is not just about countering the drug trade.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. 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,” Trump said Tuesday night.
The report on the world’s top 20 crises warns that diverging trends of surging catastrophe and shrinking funding signal the advent of a “new world disorder” replacing the post-World War II rules-based order.
“Disorder begets disorder,” said IRC president David Miliband. “This year’s Watchlist is a testament to misery but also a warning: without urgent action from those with power to make a difference, 2026 risks becoming the most dangerous year yet.”
The report said the new state of global disorder was characterised by “intensifying geopolitical rivalries, shifting alliances, and transactional deal-making”, which had conspired to create “a cascade of crises and eroding support for the world’s most vulnerable”.
Combined with Trump’s threat of land strikes on Venezuelan soil, the move ratcheted up pressure on Caracas by going after its economic lifeline, which had already come under strain after new sanctions on the oil sector earlier this year and last week’s seizure of a tanker full of Venezuelan oil.
Venezuela slammed the announcement in a Tuesday statement, calling it “a reckless and serious threat.”
Trump’s announcement also underscored the president’s focus on the country’s oil, which he has said the US should have access to if Maduro is ousted. State-owned Petróleos de Venezuela controls the country’s petroleum industry. Houston-based Chevron is the only US firm drilling in Venezuela and pays a percentage of its output to PDVSA under a sanctions carve-out.
American companies had a much larger presence in Venezuela’s oil fields until the country put the sector under state control in the 1970s. Trump has made little secret his desire for the US to return to the country’s oil industry.
Venezuela’s oil reserves are the world’s largest but operate well below capacity due to international sanctions. Much of the country’s oil is sold to China.
