Trump says US still actively pursuing oil tanker linked to Venezuela that fled from Coast Guard
President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. is still actively pursuing a sanctioned oil tanker linked to Venezuela, but that he's confident the vessel will be seized.
"It's moving along and we’ll end up getting it," Trump said while unveiling a new class of battleships from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. "Yeah, we're actually pursuing it. Can you imagine? Yeah, because it came from the wrong location. It came out of Venezuela, and it was sanctioned."
The U.S. Coast Guard over the weekend was "in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion," an official told ABC News.
"It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order," the official said at the time.
The tanker, named Bella 1, was not filled with cargo and en route to get oil when U.S. authorities attempted to board it, an official told ABC News on Monday.
Trump said the United States will keep the oil and ships after seizing sanctioned tankers.
"We're keeping it. We're keeping the ships also," he said.
On President Nicholas Maduro, Trump said it would be "smart" for him to step down when asked if the administration's ultimate goal in Venezuela is to force him from power.
"Well, I think it probably would. I can't tell him. That's up to him what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for him to do that. But again, we're going to find out," Trump said. Though the president also warned, "if he plays tough, it'll be the last time he's ever able to play tough."
The Bella 1 tanker fled into the Atlantic Ocean and was not flying a legitimate national flag, giving the Coast Guard the jurisdiction to attempt to seize it.
These details were first reported by the New York Times.
The action came after the U.S. Coast Guard seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Saturday, just ten days after the seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker.
Unlike that first vessel seized, the tanker seized Saturday is not on any sanctions list maintained by the U.S., EU, U.K. or U.N., according to Kpler, a data firm that tracks transportation and logistics networks.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed Saturday's operation in a post on social media, saying that the Coast Guard "apprehended" the tanker with support from the Department of Defense in a pre-dawn action. She said the tanker had last made port in Venezuela.
"The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region," Noem said in the post. "We will find you, and we will stop you."
Last week, President Trump threatened to impose what he called "a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers" traveling to and from Venezuela – a move that could devastate the Venezuelan economy, since oil exports are the lifeblood of Maduro's regime.
In response to Trump's announcement, Maduro said Venezuela would continue to trade oil and that Trump’s "intention" is regime change.
"This will just not happen, never, never, never – Venezuela will never be a colony of anything or anyone, never," Maduro said.
The U.S. has amassed the largest military presence in the Caribbean in decades, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier.
The Pentagon also has so far struck 28 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing at least 100 people, without providing any public evidence that the boats were carrying illegal drugs or identifying those killed.
