Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oil

What happened

President Donald Trump announced on social media Tuesday night that he had ordered a “TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.” The military campaign to block oil exports, the lifeblood of Venezuela’s economy, will “only get bigger” until President Nicolás Maduro and his government “return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land and other Assets that they previously stole from us,” Trump wrote.

Who said what

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump wrote, and must return “our Oil, Land” and other assets “IMMEDIATELY.” The post marked a “major escalation of his pressure campaign” against Maduro, The Wall Street Journal said, though “it was unclear how many tankers would be affected.” An “effective embargo” is already in place following last week’s U.S. seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Reuters said.

Trump’s announcement Tuesday “underscored” his focus on Venezuela’s oil, which was largely put “under state control in the 1970s,” CNN said. The Trump administration says its naval buildup and controversial strikes on civilian boats in the region are about fighting drug trafficking. But “behind the scenes,” officials have “focused intently on Venezuela’s oil reserves,” The New York Times said. Trump “has said both privately and publicly that the United States should take Venezuela’s oil” for years.

“Oil industry experts and former U.S. officials questioned the legal and policy rationale of Trump’s declaration,” The Washington Post said. “A naval blockade is unquestionably an act of war,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said on social media. “A war that the Congress never authorized and the American people do not want.”

What next?

A “high-level meeting” scheduled for today “could result in new orders to U.S. naval and air forces gathered in the Caribbean” and “more forceful U.S. naval operations in the next several days,” the Post said, citing a person familiar with the situation. Trump has also been threatening land strikes in Venezuela. But “if he were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war,” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said in a Vanity Fair interview published Tuesday, and “then Congress” would need to assent.