Friday, December 12, 2025

Why Did President Trump Seize The Oil Tanker?

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The Left has been stewing over, and conservatives have been wondering about why the US military seized a Venezuelan oil tanker.

Now we know.

Be informed, not misled.

More information has emerged about the Venezuelan oil tanker that the United States seized on Wednesday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday announced that the FBI, Homeland Security Department, and U.S. Coast Guard “executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.”

Bondi further noted that the tanker “has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”

Via the New York Times: 

The oil tanker seized by the United States off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday may have been trying to conceal its whereabouts by broadcasting falsified location data, according to a New York Times analysis of satellite imagery and photographs.

U.S. officials did not publicly name the vessel, but one official told The Times that it was a ship called the Skipper. Although the vessel’s location transponder indicated that it was anchored in the Atlantic Ocean near Guyana and Suriname, The Times found that from late October to at least Dec. 4, the ship was actually hundreds of miles away off Venezuela.

A satellite image captured on Nov. 18 shows the tanker docked at the country’s José oil terminal while its transponder showed that it was elsewhere.

The ship’s location was further corroborated by a photograph taken from land as it loaded oil. The image was provided by TankerTrackers.com, a company that monitors global oil shipping.

Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, told The Times that the tanker has transported nearly "13 million barrels of Iranian and Venezuelan oil since joining the global dark fleet of tankers in 2021.” He explained that it also delivered oil to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, as it fought the country’s civil war.

President Donald Trump told reporters that the tanker “was seized for a very good reason.”

The tanker carried about 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude. Some of its cargo was bound for Cuba. The White House noted that the seizure enforces sanctions on Venezuela, Iran, and other entities tied to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah, both of which have been designated as terrorist organizations.

Takeaway

Via Fox News:

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. plans to take control of the oil currently on a tanker off the coast of Venezuela that was seized by U.S. forces on Wednesday. 

So, what does that mean?

Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked yesterday, "Would he [Pres. Trump] use this seized Venezuelan oil to try to help Americans with affordability here in the United States?"

Leavitt responded, "The vessel will go to a U.S. port, and the United States does intend to seize the oil. However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed."

"The vessel is currently undergoing a forfeiture process. Right now, the United States currently has a full investigative team on the ground, on the vessel, and individuals on board the vessel are being interviewed, and any relevant evidence is being seized," Leavitt continued, adding that the oil on the tanker will go through a legal process before the U.S. claims the energy source. 

Why is Trump doing this?

"Number one, stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United States of America, which we know has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans," she continued, before adding that Trump is "fully committed to effectuating this administration's sanction policy. And that's what you saw, and the world saw take place yesterday."

Leavitt said, "We're not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil. The proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world."

The Venezuelan narco-state poses a clear threat to America’s security and prosperity. Two decades of socialism have destroyed this once wealthy country, spreading instability and transnational crime across the Western Hemisphere. After four years of appeasement under President Joe Biden, we cannot afford to ignore the problem any longer.  

President Donald Trump is sending a clear and necessary message to the Maduro regime that its days of destabilizing the Western Hemisphere with impunity are over. Trump is putting drug traffickers around the world on notice. Let’s be clear: Venezuelan narco-terrorists and their drug shipments represent a threat to the American people. Trump has both the right and the responsibility to use military force to stop them.  

Chapter 13 of Romans, among other things, speaks to the government's role in protecting the people: Homeland Security. Securing borders. Defeating terrorism. Etc.

Romans 13:3-7 says: 

"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour."

Verse 5 is very clear about the main task of the "ruler," and "governing authorities." 

They are "God's servants for good, punishing evil doers."

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged, Be Prayerful. 

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